3 mil. foreigners visit Seoul in Q1

Some 3.03 million foreigners visited Seoul from January to March this year, recording the largest number of visitors in the first quarter of a year. / Korea Times photo by Seo Jae-hoon

By Kim Jae-heun

Some 3.03 million foreigners visited Seoul from January to March this year, the largest number of visitors in the first quarter of any year, the Seoul Metropolitan Government said, Wednesday.

It was more than the previous record set in 2017 when nearly 2.92 million people toured the capital, followed by 2.8 million in 2016 and 2.65 million last year.

The city government says improvements in relations with China, which soured with economic retaliation in early 2017 over Korea deploying a U.S. anti-missile system here, has brought back a large number of tourists from the neighboring country.

Seoul City also released an annual report on foreign visitors' travel patterns after surveying 6,000 people.

According to the report, foreign visitors stayed in Seoul for 5.44 days on average last year, an increase from five days in 2017. Nearly half of them had already visited at least once before.

They also spent 1.96 million won on travel expenses.

Foreign visitors' overall score on tourism in Seoul was 4.25 out of five, an improvement from 4.16 the previous year. Many picked public security and shopping as the biggest advantages of traveling in Seoul, but showed less satisfaction for communication and travel information services.

Experiencing programs related to hallyu, or the Korean wave, were an important factor for travellers in the capital, as 41.2 percent of foreign visitors went to filming sites of Korean TV shows or entertainment shows, up from 2017's 32.4 percent.

Nearly 40 percent of foreign travelers also visited restaurants and shops that Korean celebrities frequent, up from 28 percent in 2017.

Still, shopping was the biggest for most foreign tourists here as 93.4 percent said they came mainly to shop, while 81 percent cited Korean food. Cosmetic products were the most purchased items, and bulgogi, bibimbap, fried chicken and grilled pork belly were the most popular foods.