Vietnam is the top favorite tourist destination of Koreans.

A total of 16,225,041 South Koreans traveled abroad by air, up 382.7% from 3,361,414 in the same period in 2022 when the COVID-19 pandemic had just ended.

The top five countries by number of passengers using flights from January to September this year were Japan with 4,859,770 people, Vietnam with 2,567,968 people, Thailand with 1,089,888 people, the Philippines with 1,086,291 people and the United States with 800,399 people. China ranked 6th in terms of attractiveness, with 659,859 South Koreans traveling to China.

Meanwhile, Japan, the country most visited by Korean tourists this year due to its geographical proximity and the recent devaluation of the Japanese yen, has stimulated tourism. Compared to the 69,239 visitors in the same period last year, the number of Korean tourists visiting Japan as of September 2023 has increased by 2,771.5%.

Second place belongs to Vietnam, a country with warm weather and relatively low cost of living compared to Korea. In particular, Da Nang, Vietnam, attracts the most Korean tourists. The number of Korean tourists to Vietnam in the first 9 months of the year increased by 389.7% compared to 524,373 arrivals in the same period in 2022.

Thailand, ranked third, is one of the most frequently visited countries by Koreans, with 1,089,888 visitors as of September this year, up 397.3 percent from 219,149 in the same period last year. The Philippines, ranked fourth, increased from 218,219 visitors last year to 1,086,291 visitors as of September this year, an increase of 397.8 percent. The United States, ranked fifth, which was the second most visited country by Koreans last year, has only increased by 61.2 percent this year due to the impact of high airfares.

The country with the most significant decline in the number of tourists from South Korea compared to before the pandemic was China. Before the COVID-19 pandemic, China ranked among the most visited countries by South Korean tourists, but this year the country slipped out of the Top 5. The number of tourists to and from China reached 3,444,204 in 2019, but so far there have been no significant signs of recovery.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, China has implemented strict epidemic prevention and control policies, which has significantly reduced the number of flights. Some analysts believe that one of the reasons why the number of tourists has not recovered is because the original impression of Korean tourists about China during the epidemic has not changed.