A recent report reveals that while the number of foreign tourists visiting Korea in 2024 surged to approximately 16.37 million — recovering to 93.5% of pre-pandemic levels — the tourism balance deficit widened further, surpassing $10 billion. Yanolja Research (Director: SooCheong Jang) released the report “Analysis of Korea’s Inbound and Outbound Tourism Performance in 2024” on May 26, highlighting both the positive recovery and emerging challenges. Why did the tourism deficit grow even as inbound visitors increased?
In 2024, Korea welcomed 16,369,629 foreign visitors, a 48.4% increase from 2023, demonstrating a strong recovery. Regionally, visitors from Asia accounted for 12.86 million — 78.6% of the total — but this represented only 89.7% of the 2019 level. In contrast, arrivals from the Americas (+27.8%), Europe (+4.2%), Africa (+17.4%), and Oceania (+32.9%) exceeded their 2019 levels, suggesting new growth potential.
However, tourism revenue reached only $16.45 billion, up just 8.8% from the previous year, and remained at 80% of 2019 levels. What explains this gap? First, duty-free sales — a major contributor to tourism revenue — shrank to $8.16 billion, less than half of 2019's level. Additionally, while cruise tourists jumped to 731,000, these travelers tend to spend little and stay briefly, contributing more to headcount than to revenue. Compounding the issue, the share of high-spending business travelers dropped from 17.9% in 2019 to 14.7% in 2024, limiting the recovery in earnings.
Changes in Inbound Tourist Numbers and Revenue (Unit: million people, billion USD)
Meanwhile, outbound tourism by Koreans has nearly returned to pre-pandemic levels. In 2024, 28.69 million Koreans traveled abroad — a 26.3% increase from 2023 and 99.9% of the 2019 figure. Japan was the most popular destination with 8.82 million Korean visitors, a 57.9% increase year-on-year. Vietnam (+6.5%) and Indonesia (+12.2%) also gained popularity. In contrast, Spain (-38.4%), Macau (-33.8%), and the U.S. (-26.0%) saw declining numbers of Korean visitors.
Spending by Korean travelers abroad reached $26.49 billion — recovering to 90.5% of 2019 levels. However, with tourism income lagging behind at $16.45 billion, the tourism deficit widened from $8.52 billion in 2019 to $10.04 billion in 2024.
Korea’s Tourism Balance Trend (Unit: billion USD)
Globally, international tourist arrivals in 2024 reached 1.45 billion — 98.7% of 2019 levels — while tourism revenues climbed to $1.6 trillion, 4% above 2019. The Middle East (+32.4%), Africa (+6.9%), and Europe (+0.7%) have already surpassed pre-pandemic levels, while Asia-Pacific lags at 87.1% recovery. Korea, in particular, has shown weak growth in tourism revenue, falling behind the global recovery trend.
Why is Asia — and Korea in particular — lagging? The report points to the sharp decline in Chinese tourists as a key factor. In 2024, only 4.6 million Chinese tourists visited Korea, just 76.4% of the 2019 figure. Across Asia, Chinese outbound travelers totaled 25.83 million — down 36.4% from 2019.
Hong Suckwon, Senior Researcher at Yanolja Research, noted, “A prolonged downturn in China’s real estate market and intensifying U.S.–China trade tensions have weakened consumer sentiment, reducing Chinese travelers’ overseas spending capacity.” He added, “While Chinese group travel to Korea resumed last year and is expected to rise in 2025, uncertainties remain high. To secure stable tourism demand, Korea must proactively explore new markets beyond China.”
Changes in Tourist Arrivals by Continent (Unit: 100 million people)
Changes in Chinese Visitor Arrivals to Major Asian Countries (Unit: 10,000 people)
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