SEOUL, SOUTH KOREA / RankWire.AI / – The influx of foreign visitors to South Korea exceeded 2 million in July 2026, driven by travel activity that remains above pre-pandemic levels. During that month, the country welcomed 2,093,223 international tourists, according to the Korea Tourism Organization. This figure represents a 20.8% increase from the 1,733,199 visitors recorded in July 2025. It also reached 144.6% of the July 2019 count, before the COVID-19 pandemic disrupted global travel patterns.
Compared to July 2024, the total also saw a significant rise of 48.6% from 1,408,499 foreign travelers. The latest data reveals widespread growth among South Korea’s primary inbound markets, with China remaining the leading source of visitors in July. Chinese travelers accounted for approximately 777,000 arrivals, with Japan, Taiwan, the United States, and Hong Kong following closely behind.
Japan contributed roughly 330,000 visitors in July, while Taiwan saw about 261,000 arrivals. The United States provided around 150,000 visitors, and Hong Kong contributed approximately 76,000. Each of these five markets surpassed its July 2019 numbers, with Chinese arrivals increasing by 49.6% from that year, Japanese by 20.2%, and Taiwan experiencing the largest jump at 129.4% from 2019 levels.
Leading Asian Markets Drive Visitor Growth
Arrivals from the United States grew 54.4% compared to July 2019, and Hong Kong saw a 29.1% rise. These figures demonstrate that South Korea’s top international tourism sources have now surpassed their pre-pandemic levels. China remained the dominant contributor in July by a wide margin. Japan and Taiwan ranked second and third, respectively, with the United States remaining the leading non-Asian source market.
From January to July 2026, South Korea hosted 12,803,142 foreign visitors. This seven-month total reflects a 21.3% increase over the same period in 2025 and has reached 129.5% of the January-July 2019 level. China contributed about 3.99 million visitors during this span, followed by Japan with 2.28 million, Taiwan with 1.41 million, and the United States with roughly 960,000 arrivals.
Seven-Month Visitor Count Hits 12.8 Million
During the first seven months of 2026, Hong Kong contributed around 420,000 travelers. The Korea Tourism Organization released the July tourism statistics on August 25. These figures include both inbound visitors and South Korean residents traveling abroad. Outbound trips in July by South Koreans numbered 2,419,457, representing a slight decline of 0.7% compared to the same month in 2025, when outbound travel reached 2,435,291.
Between January and July, approximately 17.38 million South Koreans traveled overseas. This cumulative outbound figure is 98.5% of the same period in 2019. The July data highlight contrasting travel patterns: foreign arrivals are well above pre-pandemic levels, whereas outbound trips remain slightly below the 2019 benchmark. South Korea’s inbound numbers in July also outstripped both 2024 and 2025 by double-digit percentages.