Cashless public transit pushes foreign business travelers to taxis

Foreign tourists in Myeong-dong, Seoul, June 26 / Yonhap

About 80 percent of transportation costs paid by foreign business travelers was spent on taxis last year, a report showed Sunday.

This was because international credit and debit cards are not accepted as valid payment methods for Korea’s public transportation.

According to a report by Visa, a global credit card and payment firm, about half of the offline payments made by foreign business travelers in Korea occurred in Seoul last year. In the transportation sector, eight out of 10 foreign business travelers rode taxis.

Their per-person spending on transportation averaged $110 (148,000 won). Travelers from the U.S. spent the most, followed by Japan and India.

Spending by visitors from these three countries combined accounted for half of all international credit card use, followed by significant spending by travelers from Ireland, Vietnam, China and Australia.

Over half of all in-person credit card use by foreign visitors was in Seoul, followed by Suwon, Incheon and Seongnam in Gyeonggi Province, and Busan.

Lodging and accommodation spending for visitors from these seven countries averaged $700 over 58 percent of the amount spent per trip. Meanwhile, the average cost per taxi ride was between $24 and $30.

The number of inbound travelers to Korea reached 7.21 million in the first five months of this year, up 14.7 percent from the previous year, according to the Korea Tourism Organization, and an increase of 103.5 percent compared to 2019.

Visits from Chinese tourists topped the list with 2.05 million travelers, followed by Japan (1.33 million), Taiwan (700,000), the U.S. (560,000) and the Philippines (260,000).