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Reuters

South Korea welcomed a record 2.06 million foreign visitors in March, led by Chinese arrivals, government data showed on Thursday, with tourism spending lifted ‌by the comeback tour of K-pop supergroup BTS after a years-long hiatus.
The Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism said the monthly record helped lift first-quarter arrivals by 23 per cent from a year ago to 4.76 million, also a record for a first quarter.
It attributed the trend to the “worldwide popularity of [Korean] culture”, despite turmoil in the Middle East ⁠due to the Iran war.
Chinese visitors made up the biggest share of visitors at 1.45 million, up 29 per cent from a year earlier, followed by Japanese tourists at 940,915, up 20.2 per cent.

Foreign arrivals through regional airports ‌jumped 49.7 per cent, while the share of travellers visiting areas outside Seoul and its vicinity ⁠rose to 34.5 per cent, ⁠from 31.3 per cent a year earlier, the ministry said.
Foreign credit card spending rose 23 per cent to 3.21 trillion won (US$2.18 billion) in ‌the quarter, the ministry said.
Separately, South Korean credit card company Hana Card estimated foreign nationals who bought tickets to attend ‌recent BTS ‌concerts spent about 55.5 billion won in the country between January 1 and April 12 ‌in purchases, with average spending of 1.85 million won per visitor.
Hana Card tracked spending patterns ⁠of 30,000 foreign nationals who had bought BTS concert tickets from the group’s first three shows ⁠of a world tour in Goyang, South Korea, on April 9, 11 to 12, the Yonhap News Agency reported.


BTS, which helped make South Korean pop music into ‌a global phenomenon, released a new ‌album Arirang in March after putting their group activities on hold in 2022 to complete mandatory military service.
The group performed a comeback concert in central Seoul on March 21, before launching their world tour, with analysts predicting ticket sales could rise as high as 2.7 trillion won.


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BTS comeback drives record 2.06 million tourists to South Korea

South Korea

A BTS fan takes a photo of the band’s poster outside the stadium before the “Arirang” World Tour concert in Goyang, South Korea, on April 9. Photo: AP

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South Korean President Lee Jae Myung attends a National Economic Advisory Council meeting in Seoul on Thursday. Photo: Yonhap/EPA

Visitors look at an exhibition ahead of Israel’s national Holocaust memorial day at Yad Vashem, the World Holocaust Remembrance Centre, in Jerusalem, on Sunday. Photo: Reuters

Oil tanks and facilities at Yeosu National Industrial Complex, the largest petrochemical industrial complex in South Korea, on April 7. The country relies heavily on oil shipped through the Strait of Hormuz. Photo: AFP

South Korean protesters hold placards showing caricatures of US President Donald Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu during a rally in Seoul denouncing war on Iran on Monday. Photo: AP 

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A news report on the sentencing trial of South Korean former president Yoon Suk-yeol’s insurrection case in February, stemming from his short-lived December 2024 declaration of martial law. Photo: Reuters

Supporters of South Korea’s former president Yoon Suk-yeol gather in front of the Seoul Central District Court in Seoul in January. Photo: AFP

A banner showing South Korea’s ex-president Yoon Suk-yeol and his wife Kim Keon-hee, near the Seoul Central District Court in January. The banner reads: “God will resurrect and restore Yoon Suk-yeol and his wife.” Photo: AFP

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A cashier checks government-regulated bin bags at a checkout in Goyang, South Korea, on Monday. South Korea’s energy minister has sought to ease fears over shortages of plastic rubbish bags. Photo: AFP

Currency dealers monitor exchange rates at the Hana Bank headquarters in Seoul on March 3. South Korea’s won tumbled to its lowest level in 17 years this month. Photo: AFP

A woman walks past a money exchange sign at a shopping district in Seoul on March 23. Photo: AFP

An official points to where bulk bags of polythene should be stacked at a factory in Ansan, South Korea, on March 25 amid unstable supplies due to the US-Israeli war on Iran. Photo: Reuters

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Lee Geun-an, the former chief inspector, and his team were responsible for torturing students and workers in South Korea when it was ruled by a military-backed authoritarian government. Photo: YouTube

South Korea’s former president Chun Doo-hwan in 2019. Photo: EPA-EFE/Yonhap

A woman reacts near a grave at a national cemetery honouring those killed in the 1980 Gwangju democracy uprising, in Gwangju, South Korea, in May 2020. Photo: EPA-EFE/Yonhap

News

Asia

East Asia

Foreigners who went to South Korea for the K-pop group’s concerts spent US$38 million in purchases between January 1 and April 12 ‌


Foreigners who went to South Korea for the K-pop group’s concerts spent US$38 million in purchases between January 1 and April 12 ‌.


BTS comeback drives record 2.06 million tourists to South Korea

.css-1c6uqr6{color:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-family:inherit;line-height:inherit;overflow-wrap:break-word;}Foreigners who went to South Korea for the K-pop group’s concerts spent US$38 million in purchases between January 1 and April 12 ‌

Foreigners who went to South Korea for the K-pop group’s concerts spent US$38 million in purchases between January 1 and April 12 ‌