According to the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism, the cumulative number of foreign tourists visiting South Korea from January to May this year reached 8.72 million, a record high, and on June 20, the total surpassed 10 million—about one month earlier than last year. Spending has also increased. Foreign credit card spending for the month of May alone reached 2.12 trillion won. NH Investment & Securities analyzed that favorable exchange rates and longer stays by long-haul travelers have led to higher per-person spending, which is expected to have a trickle-down effect on the leisure industry as a whole. In fact, foreign hotel spending in May rose 35% year-over-year, significantly outpacing the growth rate of visitor arrivals (19%).
Vietnam is also on an upward trend. International tourist arrivals in the first half of this year rose by more than 15% year-over-year, and even in June—typically the off-season—1.7 million visitors arrived (a 14.7% increase from the previous year). In the first quarter, the country set a record high with 6.76 million visitors. In the first half of 2026, China accounted for the largest number of visitors to Vietnam at approximately 2.7 million, while South Korea ranked second with about 2.16 million. Indonesia also saw its cumulative number of foreign visitors from January to April reach 4.68 million—an 8.24% year-over-year increase and the highest figure since 2020—with roughly half of them concentrated in Bali.
In contrast, neighboring Japan saw foreign visitor numbers drop to 3,148,600 in June, a 6.8% decrease from the previous year, marking the first decline in five years. This was due to a sharp drop of more than 60% in Chinese arrivals, driven by diplomatic tensions between China and Japan and China’s economic slowdown. JTB, Japan’s largest travel agency, projected that the number of visitors to Japan this year would total 41.4 million, a 3% decrease from the previous year. Although demand from South Korea (28%) and Taiwan (37%) has increased, analysts say this is insufficient to fill the gap left by the decline in visitors from China.
The situation in Thailand is even more severe. While the number of foreign visitors from January to April fell by 3.4% year-over-year, a survey by the Thai Hotel Association found that 38% of hotels reported a steeper-than-expected decline in guests. The average room occupancy rate in June was only 52%, and the forecast for July is a mere 53%. This is attributed to Thailand’s image as a safe destination being tarnished by news of crimes—such as ransom demands, disappearances, and call center scams—spreading on Chinese social media, compounded by the loss of price competitiveness due to the strong baht.
In particular, as Chinese travel patterns have shifted from group tours to independent travel, hotels and travel agencies that had relied on low-cost group tours have been hit especially hard. Hotels facing this crisis are responding by lowering room rates and expanding marketing efforts, but some are cutting back on investments and labor costs to secure liquidity. The Thai Travel Agents Association has lowered its forecast for Chinese visitors this year from 9 million to 7 million, and the Tourism Authority of Thailand has also revised its annual target for foreign visitors downward to 30–34 million, an 18% decrease from the previous target.
Ultimately, the landscape of the Asian tourism industry appears to be shifting depending on the choices of Chinese tourists, who are the “big spenders.” According to China’s National Immigration Administration, the number of Chinese travelers crossing borders in the first quarter of this year reached 185 million, a 13.5% increase from the previous year. Instead of flowing to Japan and Thailand as before, this demand is being redirected to destinations such as South Korea and Vietnam. The number of Chinese visitors to South Korea in the first quarter of this year rose by 26.9% year-over-year, and China also became Vietnam’s largest source market in the first half of the year, sending 2.7 million tourists. Analysts suggest that the landscape of the Asian tourism industry is shifting as Chinese tourists—the “big spenders” of Asian tourism—re-evaluate their destinations in response to changes in safety, visa requirements, and travel patterns. Subramania Bath, CEO of China Trading Desk, explained in an interview with Singapore’s Straits Times, “Chinese travelers are still on the move, but the winning destinations this summer will be those that are closer, safer, offer better value for money, and are more accessible.”
