It was revealed by the 11th that the proportion of young people among foreign tourists visiting South Korea is increasing. According to tourism data from the Korea Tourism Organization, out of the 11.03 million foreign tourists who visited South Korea in 2023, 3.93 million, or 35.6%, were 30 years old or younger. With the Korean Wave, including K-POP, gaining widespread popularity globally, the age group of tourists visiting Korea is skewing younger across a wide range of countries and regions, not only in Japan, China, and Southeast Asia, but also in Europe, Central and South America, and Oceania.

Foreign tourists trying out Korean cosmetics (file photo above and below) = (Yonhap News)

Looking at last year's foreign visitors to Korea by age group, those aged 21–30 were the largest group at 2.79 million, accounting for 25.3% of the total, while those 20 and under accounted for 1.14 million, or 10.3%. Those aged 31–40 were 2.27 million (20.6%), 41–50 were 1.62 million (14.7%), 51–60 were 1.35 million (12.2%), and those 61 and older were 1.11 million (10.1%). Additionally, there were 760,000 aircraft and ship crew members.

The proportion of those 30 and under was 27.6% in 2013, exceeded 30% in 2016, and reached 34.5% in 2019. After a decline due to the impact of COVID-19, it rose again to 32.4% in 2022 and 35.6% last year. This is an 8-point increase compared to 10 years ago.

In the case of tourists from Japan, who were the largest group of foreign visitors to Korea in 2023, those 30 and under accounted for 42.3%. This is a 15.7-point increase compared to 10 years ago. China, the second-largest source of visitors, also saw those 30 and under account for 38.3%, an 8.8-point increase. The Philippines was 20.6% (up 10.1 points), Thailand was 37.7% (up 8.3 points), Vietnam was 37.7% (up 7.0 points), and Indonesia was 31.0% (up 6.0 points).

Beyond Asia, which has accounted for many of the tourists visiting Korea, visitors from France who were 30 and under also increased by 15.0 points to 43.6%, the UK by 13.7 points to 34.4%, and Germany by 13.9 points to 33.9%, all seeing increases of over 10 points. The proportion of those 30 and under also rose in Mexico, the US, Australia, and New Zealand, reaching around 30%.

The background for the more noticeable trend of young people visiting Korea is the influence of the Korean Wave. Starting with K-POP, led by popular groups like BTS and BLACKPINK, K-content as a whole—including movies, dramas, beauty, and gourmet food—is attracting significant interest worldwide.

A tourism industry official explained, "It's not just for sightseeing; an increasing number of young foreign visitors are coming to Korea to learn the songs and dances of Korean idols they saw on YouTube, or to taste the food that appeared in Korean movies and dramas."

These are English translations of articles from our GTTOUR Japanese website.