Foreign Tourist Arrivals to Korea Top 2 Million in July

Foreign tourist arrivals in the Republic of Korea surpassed 2 million in July, rising more than 20 percent from a year earlier and exceeding pre-pandemic levels, tourism data showed Tuesday.

The number of foreign visitors reached 2.09 million last month, up 20.8 percent from 1.73 million a year earlier, according to figures released by the Korea Tourism Organisation.

The total represents 144.6 percent of the arrivals recorded in July 2019, before the coronavirus pandemic severely disrupted international travel.

Chinese tourists made up the largest group with about 777,000 visitors, followed by travellers from Japan at 330,000, Taiwan at 261,000, the United States at 150,000 and Hong Kong at 76,000.

From January through July, Korea received 12.8 million foreign visitors, a 21.3 percent increase from the same period last year.