A recent study revealed that over one-third of foreign tourists who visited South Korea were under 30 last year.
It is understood that the popularity of the Korean Wave, or Hallyu, has led to a decrease in the age of tourists not only from Japan, China, and Southeast Asia but also from France, the UK, Mexico, Australia, and other countries worldwide.
Yonhap News reported that according to the “Korean Tourism Data Lab” of the Korea Tourism Organization, 3.93 million out of the 11.03 million foreign tourists (35.6%) who visited Korea last year were under 30.
Of these visitors, 2.79 million were between the ages of 21 and 30, accounting for 25.3%, while 1.14 million were under 20, making up 10.3%.
The age group of 31-40 accounted for 2.27 million visitors (20.6%), 41-50 for 1.62 million (14.7%), 51-60 for 12.2%, and those over 61 accounted for 1.11 million (10.1%).
The total figure also includes 760,000 flight attendants.
The proportion of foreign tourists under 30 has grown 8.1 percent in the past decade from 27.6% in 2013.
This percentage has steadily grown from 27.6% in 2013. It exceeded 30% in 2016 (32.5%) and continued to rise to 33.5% in 2017, 34.4% in 2018, and 34.5% in 2019.
However, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the proportion dropped to 32.6% in 2020 and 20.4% in 2021. Later, it rebounded to 32.4% in 2022 and exceeded 35% last year.
Looking at the tourist data by country, the proportion of Japanese tourists under 30, who made up the largest group of foreign tourists visiting Korea last year, was a staggering 42.3%, showing a 15.7 percent increase compared to a decade ago. The second largest group, Chinese tourists, saw an increase of 8.8 percent to 38.3%. The Philippines also saw a rise of 10.1 percent to 20.6%.
Last year, the proportion of French tourists under 30 increased by 15.0 percent from a decade ago, recording 43.6%. The UK saw an increase of 13.7 percent to 34.4%, Germany an increase of 13.9 percent to 33.9%, the Netherlands an increase of 14.1 percent to 32.9%, and Italy an increase of 16.0 percent to 27.2%. In the same 10 years, the proportion of young tourists under 30 from Mexico, a Latin American country, increased by more than 10 percent from 26.0% to 36.9%. In the US, this sector rose from 25.8% to 28.5%.
Related to this, Yonhap News reported, “The influence of the Korean Wave is often cited as the primary reason why more young people are visiting Korea now than ever before, from all around the world, including Asia, Europe, the Americas, and Oceania.”
The report added, “This is due to the global popularity of K-content, most notably K-pop represented by groups like BTS and Blackpink, followed by K-movies, K-dramas, K-beauty, K-food, and more.”
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