International visitor spending in South Korea 2019, by category
Travel expenses
In 2019, the total tourism receipts were estimated to have reached a record amount of around 21.5 billion U.S. dollars, breaking down to an average expenditure of around 1.23 thousand U.S. dollars per person. That year, visitors spent around 245 U.S. dollars per person per day, while visitors from China spent the highest amount per day.
Tourism industry
In 2019, South Korea reached an all time high of 17.5 million visitors, growing by around 14 percent compared to the previous year. The number of tourists plummeted in 2017 after political disputes between South Korea and China. Chinese tourists play an important part in the South Korean tourism industry. In 2016, around 47 percent of visitor arrivals to South Korea were originating from Mainland China.