How K-pop fans are reshaping Korean tourism

An instructor and students demonstrate dance moves at a K-pop class at 1Million Dance Studio in Seongdong District, Seoul, Sunday. Korea Times photo by Choi Ju-yeon

By Hankookilbo

• Published Feb 26, 2026 4:32 PM KST
• Updated Feb 26, 2026 4:35 PM KST

"Your hips need to push outward while your solar plexus goes down. You do a slight jump in this movement," a professional dance instructor said to a room of struggling students.

About 20 foreigners gathered at 1MILLION Dance Studio in Seoul's Seongdong District on Feb. 22 to learn the introductory choreography for the girl group KATSEYE's track "Game Boy."

The studio draws a diverse crowd of international visitors. Mike, 24, who came from the Netherlands to learn the Korean language and K-pop dance, spoke after the class ended.

"I have loved dancing since I was young, but it is too expensive in the Netherlands, so I came to Korea," he said with a bright smile. "Actually doing it is very difficult."

Rachel, a German woman in her 20s, visited the studio with a friend.

"I used to learn and dance to hip-hop music in a university club in Germany," she said. "But I developed an interest in K-pop and came with a friend who is staying in Korea as an exchange student."

Instructor Cho Soo-yeon said foreign nationals now account for about 70 percent of the studio's beginner hobby classes.

"It seems many people want to feel a sense of accomplishment and build self-esteem while learning K-pop dance," Cho said.

Dancing, singing and styling like K-pop stars

This active participation highlights a new wave in K-tourism driven by Gen Z and Gen Alpha, demographics that demand immersive experiences over passive observation.

Global travel platform Klook reported a 31.4 percent increase in traffic for domestic cultural tourism experiences targeting foreigners last year. A Klook official said the platform's data shows a clear shift away from historical landmarks like Gyeongbok Palace or standard shopping districts like Myeong-dong. Instead, tourists are booking active experiences, including dance classes, broadcast studio tours, visits to the Demilitarized Zone and K-drama-themed packages.

Travel packages built around year-end K-pop award ceremonies are also surging in popularity. A Feb. 11 music award ceremony at Korea University's Hwajeong Gymnasium was packed with young foreign attendees.

"We purchased a ticket package on a travel platform to see the boy groups P1Harmony, ENHYPEN and BOYNEXTDOOR, and we are on a nine-day trip," said Alana and Faye, two Australian tourists in their 20s.

"We have been to K-pop groups' concerts or fan meetings before, but this is our first time at an award ceremony, so we are excited."

International attendance at live television music broadcasts is also climbing as commercial tour packages and digital apps streamline ticket access.

"I set my travel schedule anticipating that the girl group MADEIN would appear on the broadcast in time for their comeback, and I won a ticket after applying through the Mnet Plus app," said Yao, a 23-year-old Chinese woman waiting outside the CJ ENM broadcast building in Sangam-dong on Feb. 12. "I also plan to watch the Korean musicals 'Death Note' and 'Rent' during this trip."

The desire to actively experience K-pop also extends into singing. Tourists are using studio experience packages where they receive vocal coaching from former K-pop singers or vocal trainers and even record their own songs. Singing K-pop at a noraebang, or Korean-style karaoke, is rapidly becoming a mandatory tourist activity.

Credit card data from the Korea Tourism Data Lab showed foreign tourist spending at noraebang surged 54.8 percent year-on-year between January 2024 and June 2025. In response, operators are actively expanding their foreign song libraries and translating remote controls and menus into English.

This specific demand is highly visible at HiKR Ground, a K-content complex in central Seoul that surpassed 2 million visitors early last year, just two years after opening. Its dedicated noraebang zone remains one of its most heavily trafficked attractions.

This cultural immersion directly fuels the local K-beauty industry, as tourists pay to replicate the precise styling of their favorite artists.

"Even in winter, which is the off-season for K-pop concerts, more than 20 people visit a day," a salon official said. "The number surges when popular groups hold concerts or fan meetings. During BLACKPINK's concert last summer, international fans lined up outside the store."

The official added, "Recently, many foreign customers specifically request makeup similar to IVE member Jang Won-young. One staff member even said they only applied Jang's makeup all day long."

K-pop tourism expanding into K-culture and family trips

Beyond aesthetics, international streaming platforms are pushing tourists to experience everyday aspects of Korean daily life. The hit Netflix animation "KPop Demon Hunters" played a critical role in expanding this tourism demographic from die-hard K-pop fans to the general public.

In its "2025 Inbound Tourism Trend" report, the tourism platform Creatrip identified this phenomenon as the "K-Dive" trend. The report noted that the massive popularity of "KPop Demon Hunters" drove a surge in foreign reservations for experiences like visits to neighborhood public baths and traditional dining spots.

This desire for authentic experiences is visible across digital travel communities. In a Facebook group dedicated to Korea travel, an American woman named Sien posted asking for travel advice, specifically requesting recommendations for local food delivery apps so she could replicate scenes of eating by the Han River.

The economic footprint of this trend is expanding as Gen Z and Gen Alpha fans increasingly persuade their parents to fund extensive, multi-city family vacations to Korea.

Mark Smith, a British man in his 50s, posted in the same Facebook group seeking travel advice. He wrote that he is organizing the trip because his daughter, a die-hard K-pop fan turning 21, wanted to visit the country while she was still young. Smith said he and his wife are finalizing a family itinerary for next month that splits their time with four days in Seoul and four days in the southern port city of Busan.

Economic boom threatened by lagging infrastructure

K-content have become primary engines for Korea's inbound tourism. The Korea Institute of Public Finance reported that a 1 percent increase in domestic broadcasting program exports correlates to a 0.176 percent increase in foreign tourists, while a 1 percent increase in K-pop album exports drives a 0.074 percent increase.

According to the Korea Tourism Organization, the proportion of foreign tourists citing K-content as their primary motivation for visiting the country rose from 32.1 percent in 2023 to 41.8 percent in the first quarter of last year.

This demand will be heavily tested in the first half of this year as the globally renowned boy band BTS returns after a four year hiatus. The group plans to hold a six-concert tour starting at Seoul's Gwanghwamun on March 21, before moving to Goyang Stadium for three shows on April 9, 11, and 12, and concluding in Busan on June 12 and 13.

The Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism and the Korea Tourism Organization estimate the maximum economic impact of a single BTS concert at 1.2 trillion won ($840 million). Even if the government’s projections are somewhat inflated, the six-show tour represents a major economic catalyst for Korean tourism.

To make the most of this influx, entertainment giants are turning from standard merchandise sales to transforming entire city spaces into profit hubs. HYBE, the parent company of BTS's label Big Hit Music, will launch "The City Arirang Seoul," a citywide campaign running from March 20 to April 12.

"The City" project integrates artist-themed food, exhibitions, accommodations and pop-up stores to coincide with major concerts. HYBE has previously executed similar projects domestically and in the United States, Japan, Thailand and Indonesia.

"While the past focus was solely on watching the performance itself, we are now finding a tendency to look for content to enjoy the artist's narrative and overall lifestyle," a HYBE official said. "Reflecting fans' needs, we are developing projects focusing on the 'scarcity of experience' that can only be experienced at a specific time and place."

However, the rapid influx of international tourists is actively being bottlenecked by Korea's lagging venue infrastructure.

The country faces a severe shortage of medium-to-large concert venues, forcing K-pop agencies to reduce the scale of their domestic shows. Because of the shortage, many international fans who plan trips to Korea specifically for live performances abandon their travel plans entirely due to ticket shortages.

International fans who do travel often face predatory secondary markets.

Joseph, a 34-year-old tourist from the Philippines, complained about scalping for K-pop performances. "I grabbed my ticket for this award ceremony at the regular price on the official site, but there are too many scalped tickets for popular groups' concerts and fan meetings," he said.

Ziyi, a 17-year-old from China, used a third-party ticket reseller and paid roughly double the regular price. She called excessive ticket prices "the biggest problem in the K-pop industry."

Lee Hoon, a professor at Hanyang University's Department of Tourism, called on the government and municipalities to anticipate future demand and build long-term concert infrastructure.

"The government and the private sector should show their will to gather strength and establish order so that concert tickets can also be traded more fairly," Lee added.

This article from the Hankook Ilbo, the sister publication of The Korea Times, is translated by a generative AI system and edited by The Korea Times.