The scale of the rebound is even more pronounced when compared to the previous report. In the 2024 edition of the report, South Korea was a laggard in recovery, with 11 million visitors in 2023—just 63% of the 2019 pre-pandemic level—but it has turned the tables in just two years. The report cited the expansion of air routes, the recovery of outbound travel from China, and South Korea’s activities as the 2025 APEC Chair—including the APEC Summit—as factors behind this growth. China (28.9%), Japan (19.3%), and Taiwan (10.0%) have established themselves as the top three inbound markets, laying the groundwork for further growth. This performance stands in contrast to four countries—the United States (-5.5%), Canada (-0.6%), and Germany (-0.8%)—which have yet to return to pre-pandemic levels. Tourism exports also rose by 10.4% year-over-year to $27.2 billion, increasing their share of total service exports to 18.1%—a slight increase from the 12.3% reported in the previous report (for 2023).
South Korea’s tourism structure is also noteworthy. The share of lodging revenue concentrated in the three-month peak season was 30%, the fifth-lowest among OECD countries, following Japan (28%), Mexico (29%), the United States (29%), and Colombia (29%). Given that the average for member countries is around 40%, this indicates a structure that attracts visitors evenly throughout the year without seasonal bias; the report noted that countries with low seasonality “enjoy the benefits of more stable economic activity and employment year-round.” The average length of stay for foreign visitors was 7.1 nights—1.5 times the OECD average (4.8 nights)—suggesting that a high-value-added structure, in which visitors stay longer and spend more, is taking root.
The OECD’s analysis indicates that digital capabilities underpin this strong growth. The report highlighted South Korea’s AI use cases in a separate, prominent section. Of particular note is the Korea Tourism Organization’s “AI Kokkok” travel recommendation service, which features algorithmic transparency and fairness mechanisms to reduce search and selection biases, and cross-validates its recommendation models through A/B testing. The report noted that the big data analytics platform “Tourism Data Lab,” with 80,000 members and 1 million monthly visitors as of June 2025, is serving as a compass for policymakers and industry practitioners.
However, there are also areas that received disappointing results. South Korea’s share of direct GDP from tourism stood at 1.71% (preliminary figure for 2024), less than half the OECD average (4.0%) and the lowest among the countries surveyed. It rose by only 0.02 percentage points compared to 2023, amounting to little more than treading water. South Korea also ranked last in terms of tourism’s contribution to employment at 1.57%, a figure significantly below the OECD average of 6.3%.
The OECD noted, “South Korea has set forth a vision to become a ‘tourism powerhouse led by K-Culture’ and has significantly strengthened its governance by elevating tourism functions to the ‘Office of Tourism Policy,’ a vice-ministerial-level unit dedicated to tourism.” The report explained, “South Korea achieved a record high by recording double-digit growth of 15.7% in attracting foreign tourists in 2025,” adding, “South Korea is rapidly expanding its presence in the global tourism market based on strong policy momentum.”
