American Tourists to South Korea Rose by 12 Percent

South Korea and the United States exchanged a higher number of tourists among one another in 2016.

Between January and November of 2016, 799,589 Americans traveled to South Korea, according to Korea Tourism Organization’s (KTO) recent data. That is a 12 percent increase compared to 770,305 in 2014 and 767,613 in 2015.

Around 41 percent of the American tourists in Korea paid their visits in June with July (25.4 percent) and September (18.7 percent) following suit, respectively.

Likewise, more Koreans visited the U.S. than they did in recent years. At least 917,504 tourists from South Korea traveled across the U.S. during the same period in 2016.

The hike in number of tourists naturally led to more spending. KTO estimated that the revenue generated by the tourism sector in 2016 will increase by 14.1 percent. Similarly, expenditures among Korean tourists in foreign country is expected to rise by 7.9 percent.

“The recent data is a reflection of America’s rebounding economy,” said KTO president Tae-shik Kim. “The promotion contents to advertise Korea has been effective. We expect more tourists to visit Korea as we’re actively promoting our travel packages and various tourist programs.”

By Brian Choi