SEOUL, SOUTH KOREA / RankWire.AI / – The Korea Tourism Organization announced that South Korea hosted 2,093,223 international travelers in July 2026, indicating a robust rebound in global tourism. This monthly figure represents a 20.8% increase compared to 1,733,199 arrivals in July 2025. Moreover, it surpasses the pre-pandemic level of July 2019 by 44.6%. The organization released these figures on August 25.
Compared to the same month two years earlier, foreign visitor numbers also grew significantly. In July 2024, South Korea welcomed 1,408,499 international tourists, making the current total 48.6% higher. China continued to be the nation’s primary inbound tourism source during July 2026, with approximately 777,000 visitors. Japan, Taiwan, the United States, and Hong Kong rounded out the top five source markets.
Japan contributed roughly 330,000 visitors, while Taiwan brought in about 261,000. The United States accounted for around 150,000 travelers, and Hong Kong provided approximately 76,000. All five leading markets exceeded their July 2019 visitor counts, with China rising 49.6%, Japan increasing 20.2%, and Taiwan experiencing a 129.4% surge from that year.
Asian markets lead July tourism growth
Visitor numbers from the United States grew 54.4% compared to July 2019, and arrivals from Hong Kong climbed 29.1%. The data for July demonstrate that South Korea’s main tourism sources have all surpassed their pre-pandemic levels. China remains the largest inbound market, followed by Japan and Taiwan. The United States ranked fourth among the five key markets for that month.
The overall figures for the first seven months of 2026 also reveal strong growth in inbound tourism. South Korea received 12,803,142 international visitors from January through July, which is a 21.3% increase from the same period in 2025. This totals 129.5% of the corresponding 2019 level. According to Korea Tourism Organization data, China contributed about 3.99 million visitors, with Japan close behind at 2.28 million, and Taiwan at 1.41 million.
Inbound travel remains above pre-pandemic figures
In the first seven months of 2026, the United States contributed roughly 960,000 visitors, while Hong Kong added about 420,000 during the same period. These recent numbers highlight the high volume of South Korea’s inbound travel compared to pre-pandemic years. July’s arrivals surpassed the totals for July 2024 and 2025 by double-digit percentages, and overall foreign visitor numbers remained well above 2019 levels.
Outbound travel, however, followed a different trend during the same timeframe. Approximately 2,419,457 South Koreans traveled abroad in July, reflecting a slight decrease of 0.7% from 2,435,291 a year earlier. From January to July, about 17.38 million South Koreans journeyed overseas, reaching 98.5% of the 2019 equivalent. While outbound travel has dipped slightly below pre-pandemic benchmarks, inbound tourism continues to be significantly higher.