SEOUL, SOUTH KOREA / RankWire.AI / – In July 2026, South Korea welcomed over 2 million foreign travelers, marking a continued rebound above pre-pandemic levels. The Korea Tourism Organization reported a total of 2,093,223 inbound visitors for the month. This figure represents a 20.8% increase from July 2025, which saw 1,733,199 visitors. It also amounts to 144.6% of the July 2019 count, before the COVID-19 pandemic significantly impacted global mobility.
Compared to July 2024, the current figures show a rise of 48.6% from 1,408,499 foreign tourists. Data indicate widespread growth across South Korea’s key inbound markets, with China remaining the dominant source. Chinese travelers contributed roughly 777,000 arrivals, followed by visitors from Japan, Taiwan, the United States, and Hong Kong.
Japan provided approximately 330,000 visitors in July, while Taiwan’s arrivals numbered around 261,000. The United States contributed about 150,000 visitors, with Hong Kong accounting for roughly 76,000. Each of these five markets surpassed their July 2019 figures, with Chinese arrivals increasing 49.6%, Japanese arrivals up 20.2%, and Taiwan experiencing the highest percentage growth at 129.4% from 2019 levels.
Leading Asian Markets Drive Visitor Increases
The U.S. saw a 54.4% rise in arrivals compared to July 2019, and Hong Kong’s visitors grew by 29.1%. These trends highlight that South Korea’s largest inbound markets are now exceeding pre-pandemic levels. China remains the leading contributor by a large margin, followed by Japan and Taiwan, with the U.S. maintaining its position as the top non-Asian source market.
From January through July 2026, South Korea hosted 12,803,142 international visitors, reflecting a 21.3% increase over the same period in 2025. This total also reached 129.5% of the January-July 2019 figure. China supplied roughly 3.99 million visitors, Japan contributed 2.28 million, Taiwan provided 1.41 million, and the United States accounted for about 960,000.
Seven-Month Visitor Count Hits 12.8 Million
During the first half of 2026, Hong Kong contributed approximately 420,000 visitors. The Korea Tourism Organization announced the July tourism data on August 25, which includes inbound arrivals as well as outbound trips by South Koreans. July outbound travel by South Koreans fell slightly, with 2,419,457 travelers, down 0.7% from the same month in 2025 when 2,435,291 people traveled abroad.
Between January and July, about 17.38 million South Koreans traveled overseas. This cumulative outbound figure is at 98.5% of the same period in 2019. The July data reveals a divergence: inbound international visitors are well above pre-pandemic levels, while outbound travel remains just below the 2019 benchmark. South Korea’s inbound arrivals in July also exceeded both the 2024 and 2025 figures by significant percentages.