South Korea received a record 15.05 million international visitors in the first eight months of 2026, up 21.6 percent year-on-year, the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism (MCST) said on September 28th.
Arrivals in August alone rose 23.3 percent to 2.25 million. The ministry said both totals were the highest in 30 years.
Greater China accounted for nearly 60 percent of the increase, with arrivals up 28.9 percent to 7.01 million. Visitors from China rose 29.0 percent to 4.82 million and those from Taiwan 32.2 percent to 1.66 million, while Japanese arrivals climbed 17.5 percent to 2.70 million.
International visitors are a key customer pool for South Korea’s 17 foreigner-only casinos, with Kangwon Land the only venue permitted to admit locals.
Tourism-related card spending by international visitors rose 48.5 percent to KRW14.018 trillion ($10.3 billion), the highest since records began. The figure covers tourism-sector card transactions and is not a measure of casino gaming revenue.
The ministry partly attributed the growth to easier entry for Southeast Asian travelers. This included relaxed multiple-entry visa rules for nationals of 11 regional countries from March 30th and a temporary visa-free pilot for Indonesian tour groups from May 28th.
Citing other national tourism authorities, the MCST said arrivals over the same period fell 2.7 percent in Japan and 3.1 percent in Thailand, while Vietnam posted 14.4 percent growth.
Kang Jung-won, the MCST’s deputy minister for tourism policy, said the ministry would closely manage visa issuance and immigration processing in October, “the busiest period for international arrivals.”
