Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism said, "Foreign tourists' favorability for local tourism is on the rise"

*This content was translated by AI.

It was found that places visited by foreign tourists are not only concentrated in Seoul, but are spreading nationwide.

The Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism announced on the 14th that major indicators such as local visits, stays, and consumption of foreign tourists increased in the first quarter of 2026, showing positive signs of revitalizing local tourism.

According to the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism, 853,905 foreigners entered the country through local airports in the first quarter of this year, up 49.7% from the same period last year (573,389). The number of foreign travelers using railroads also increased by 46.4% year-on-year to about 1.69 million. In addition, the number of arrivals through local ports increased 6.1% to 335,000.

As a result, the rate of foreigners visiting the region was 34.5 percent, up 3.2 percentage points from the same period last year, while the rate of visits to the Seoul metropolitan area decreased 0.8 percentage points to 79.9 percent.

The duration and consumption of foreigners' stay in the region have also expanded. In the first quarter of this year, the number of foreigners staying in the region increased 36.2% from the previous year to 5.28 million days, and local expenditures increased 17.2% to $880 million. The analysis of card big data also showed that foreigners' regional consumption amounted to 466.7 billion won, up 26.8% year-on-year.

Local travel by Koreans also showed an increase. The number of local trips by Koreans between January and February this year was 39.31 million, up 6.9% from the same period last year, and the expenditure was 5.401 trillion won, up 3.0%. The number of local visitors to the metropolitan area also increased 6.81 percent year-on-year to 176.9 million.

The Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism cited tourism support policies by the government and local governments, such as "half-price travel," "half-price vacation," and travel campaigns to the nation, and regional-oriented overseas tourism marketing as the background of this growth.

The Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism also explained that the institutional foundation for revitalizing local tourism was strengthened in March when the National Assembly passed an amendment to the Basic Tourism Act to elevate the "National Tourism Strategy Meeting" to the president's affiliation.

Kang Jung-won, head of the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism's tourism policy office, said, "The change in the trend of tourism, which was concentrated in the metropolitan area, is confirmed as an indicator. We will continue to make a qualitative leap in local tourism by creating a tourism zone in Chogwang Station and expanding local contents."

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*This content was translated by AI.