SEOUL, SOUTH KOREA / RankWire.AI / – In July 2026, South Korea saw its foreign visitor numbers surpass the 2 million mark, demonstrating a sustained recovery in international travel that remains above pre-pandemic levels. According to the Korea Tourism Organization, a total of 2,093,223 international travelers arrived during the month. This figure reflects a 20.8% increase from the 1,733,199 visitors recorded in July 2025. Furthermore, it represents 144.6% of the July 2019 total, before the COVID-19 pandemic severely impacted global tourism activity.
Compared to July 2024, the latest data reveals a substantial growth of 48.6%, as 1,408,499 foreign visitors entered South Korea. The distribution of travelers among key source markets highlights broad-based gains, with China remaining the dominant origin of international visitors for the month. Visitors from China numbered approximately 777,000, with Japan, Taiwan, the United States, and Hong Kong following closely behind.
Japan contributed roughly 330,000 tourists, while Taiwan accounted for about 261,000 visitors. The United States saw around 150,000 travelers, and Hong Kong contributed approximately 76,000 arrivals. All five of these markets exceeded their respective figures from July 2019. Notably, Chinese arrivals increased by 49.6% compared to July 2019, and Japanese visitors grew by 20.2%. Taiwan experienced the most significant rise, with a 129.4% increase from its 2019 level.
Leading Asian Countries Drive Growth in Tourist Numbers
Arrivals from the United States grew by 54.4% relative to July 2019, while visitors from Hong Kong increased by 29.1%. These figures illustrate that South Korea’s primary inbound markets have rebounded past their pre-pandemic numbers. China continued to be the leading contributor by a wide margin, with Japan and Taiwan ranking second and third, respectively. The United States remained the largest external source among non-East Asian markets.
From the start of January to the end of July 2026, South Korea hosted 12,803,142 foreign visitors. This cumulative total represents a 21.3% rise compared to the same period in 2025, and it reached 129.5% of the January-July 2019 figure. Chinese visitors accounted for about 3.99 million during this period, followed by Japan with 2.28 million, Taiwan with 1.41 million, and the United States with roughly 960,000.
Seven-Month Tourist Arrivals Hit 12.8 Million
During the first half of 2026, Hong Kong contributed approximately 420,000 visitors. The Korea Tourism Organization published the July tourism data on August 25, which includes inbound arrivals as well as South Koreans traveling abroad. In July, outbound trips by South Korean residents totaled 2,419,457, marking a slight decrease of 0.7% compared to the same month in 2025, when outbound travel reached 2,435,291.
Between January and July, around 17.38 million South Koreans traveled overseas. This cumulative outbound number is 98.5% of the comparable figure from 2019. The July data illustrates contrasting patterns: while inbound tourist numbers have surpassed pre-pandemic levels by a significant margin, outbound travel remains marginally below its 2019 peak. Additionally, South Korea’s inbound visitors in July outperformed both the 2024 and 2025 figures by double-digit percentages.