Number of Korean tourists visiting Japan expected to reach 10 million， while number of Japanese tourists visiting Korea is less than 3 million Korean internet users say “We should analyze why they aren’t coming．”
On October 17, 2024, South Korea’s Segye Ilbo reported that “While the number of Korean tourists visiting Japan is expected to reach 10 million, the number of Japanese tourists visiting South Korea is expected to be less than 3 million, revealing a difference in travel preferences between the two countries.” According to the article, the number of Korean tourists visiting Japan from January to August was 5,811,911. If this trend continues, it is expected that approximately 10 million tourists will visit Japan by the end of the year. The number of Korean tourists visiting Japan recorded 487,939 in 2020 and 18,947 in 2021 amid the COVID-19 pandemic, before recovering to 1,012,751 in 2022 and 6,958,494 in 2023, and has increased even more significantly this year. This is more than double the number seen in 2019 (5,584,597 people) before the COVID-19 pandemic. Kim Nam-jo, a professor at the School of Tourism at Hanyang University, explained, “The biggest reason is the general prolonged depreciation of the yen.” “Another factor is that the image of Jeju Island in South Korea, which was seen as an alternative travel destination to Japan, has been tarnished by the rip-off scandal and other incidents, resulting in a significant drop in tourists.” In response to the increase in tourists visiting Japan, major Korean airlines are expanding their routes to smaller cities in Japan. On the other hand, Japanese people are relatively reluctant to visit Korea. As of August this year, the number of Japanese tourists visiting South Korea was 1,998,417, and if this trend continues, the number is expected to fall short of 3 million by the end of the year. Although the number is expected to increase from last year (2,316,429 people), it has yet to recover to the level of 2019 (3,271,706 people) before the COVID-19 pandemic. “Japanese tourists have long had a tendency to prefer traveling to their own country,” said Professor Kim. “Domestic demand is behind the decline in the number of tourists who came to Korea for K-pop and Korean food compared to before the COVID-19 pandemic.” Korean internet users who read this article commented, “Korean people don’t travel domestically, so it’s no surprise that Japanese people don’t come to Korea,” “Honestly, if I were a foreigner, I wouldn’t choose Korea for tourism,” and “It’s strange to say, “This one does it, so why the other one doesn’t.” If the Japanese aren’t coming, then why aren’t they coming? If many Koreans are going, then why are they going? We should think about and analyze that.” “It’s amazing that 3 million Japanese have visited Korea. In Japan, the passport ownership rate is low, and furthermore, the weak yen has led to a trend of people not going abroad in the first place.” “For some reason, Koreans have this strange pride that makes them think ’never having been abroad = inferior to others,’” “The weak yen has a big effect. Various opinions have been expressed, such as, “Besides, there are no rip-offs in Japan,” and “I go there because it’s cheap, and I don’t go because it’s expensive.” (Translation and editing by Domoto) record korea Saturday, October 19, 2024, 7:00 p.m.
Previously, when a foreign tourist made a blunder in Korea, threads were made saying “Don’t come again” and “It feels so good”, and now that the number of tourists to Japan has increased in comparison, it was said that a thread would be made asking “Why are there more foreign tourists in Japan?”, and it seems that one has indeed been made.
Considering that most of the flights between Korea by JAL and ANA are codeshare flights (Korean Air and Asiana), it is clear that there is little demand from Japan to Korea.
Who wants to travel to Korea, a country where people don’t flush toilet paper down the toilet and instead throw it in the trash? The whole country stinks, it’s dirty, and filthy.
Actually, are there really as many as 3 million people going there? Does this include people living in Japan making multiple round trips, or those in transit?
Transit = approx. 75% Business = approx. 10% Returning home to Japan for Japanese residents = approx. 10% Tourism = approx. 5% Most countries don’t count transit, but Korea does.
The simple answer is that Japanese people don’t have the money to travel lol. On top of that, they’re pretending to go to Korea in Shin-Okubo, and Harajuku is already full of Korean things lol. Shopping malls are lined with Korean stores.
It’s not that no one goes, but a certain number of people do. What should be of concern is the overwhelmingly low rate of repeat customers. There are far too many people who, faced with reality, think “one time is enough.” If taxis are still ripping people off and doing things like that, it won’t last forever.
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