'9 out of 10 foreigners willing to come to Korea again:' survey

By Lee Kyung-min

Nine out of 10 foreign tourists said they would visit Korea again, a city government survey showed Wednesday.

According to a joint survey commissioned by the Seoul Metropolitan Government and the Seoul Tourism Organization of 3,000 foreigners who visited Korea between January and June, 89.7 percent said they would be willing to choose Korea again. The rate is a 0.7 percent increase on a year earlier. The survey allowed multiple answers for all questions.

While spending an average of 5.3 days in Seoul, over 83.8 percent of visitors went to Myeongdong, a major tourist attraction, followed by Lotte Department Store, Lotte Duty Free Shop and the N Seoul Tower, commonly known as the Namsan Tower.

Some 92.1 percent said they came here for the shopping, while 78.9 percent said they were here for the food. Over half, or 57 percent, chose duty free shops for shopping and 50.5 percent went to traditional Korean markets. Over two-thirds, or 68.1 percent, of visitors bought cosmetics, followed by clothes (55.1 percent) and food (39 percent).

Almost all, or 94.3 percent, said they tried Korean food, including some 64.5 percent who had street food. Nearly half, or 49.6 percent, said they tried food and beverages at coffee shops. Over four-fifths, or 83.5 percent, said taste was the most important factor in choosing what or where to eat, followed by a reasonable price (39.5 percent) and food variety (28 percent).

Some 57.9 percent said they used cell phone internet to search for tourism information, 4.4 percentage points more than those who used the internet via a laptop or desktop computers (53.5 percent). Some 84.3 percent visited portal sites, but 36.5 percent said they looked for reviews or recommendations on social networking sites including Facebook, Instagram or WeChat.

Most of them stayed in hotels (68.9 percent) and 8.6 percent in guest houses. They made reservations via booking websites or tourism companies. Some 59.1 percent used the subway for transport, while 27.2 percent used taxis. Many tourists bought prepaid transport cards and spent an average of 32,000 won ($28) on them.

In a separate survey by the Seoul Tourism Organization of 8,210 foreigners between June 1 and 24, 75.9 percent said they would want to travel to the city when they were young, while 33.9 percent said they would enjoy the city most in the evening.

According to the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism and the Korea Tourism Organization, 7.22 million foreign tourists visited Korea in the first half of this year, a 6.9 percent increase from a year earlier. The number stood at 13.34 million last year and 17.24 million in 2016.