It has been revealed that South Koreans were the largest group of foreign tourists visiting Shanghai in the first half of this year. The Shanghai Municipal Bureau of Culture and Tourism announced this in its recently released “2026 First Half Cultural Tourism Big Data Report.”
According to the report, 5,314,900 tourists visited Shanghai in the first half of the year. Of these, 515,000 were South Korean tourists. This represents a 21.5% increase compared to the first half of last year, demonstrating that online trends regarding Shanghai have translated into actual travel. In the ranking of tourists by nationality, South Koreans took first place, significantly outpacing Russia (356,000), which ranked second.
Shanghai’s transformation into a “destination for the MZ generation” played a key role in its popularity. This is due to historic streets such as the former French Concession and the Bund emerging as popular spots for Instagram-worthy photos. Furthermore, the city has solidified its image as a sophisticated and luxurious travel destination with the concentration of ultra-luxury hotels—including Aman, Bulgari, Capella, The Ritz-Carlton, and The Edition—where rates can reach 1 million won per night.
Recently, the trend toward short-haul destinations due to political instability in the Middle East, as well as the fact that
Above all, the “Wanghong Experience” has taken social media by storm, fueling the craze for Shanghai. This experience involves being dressed in traditional local attire and having makeup applied to transform into a traditional Shanghai beauty before having photos taken. It became a massive online trend after celebrities such as Park Myung-soo and Kwak Beom shared their experiences on their YouTube channels. Shinhan Card revealed in the July travel report from the Baek Data Research Institute that the “Wanghong Experience” showed the highest growth rate among travel-related experience keywords. Travel platforms such as MyRealTrip are responding to travelers’ interest by offering packages that allow them to book this experience. Recently, “mukbang” (eating shows) at the hot pot franchise Haidilao have gained popularity and are leading the next trend.
This popularity is also evident in actual booking statistics. According to Klook, a platform for booking accommodations, transportation, and activities, the booking rate for Shanghai travel packages in the first half of 2026 increased by 59% compared to the same period last year. Among these, the number of bookings in the “tours” category—which includes programs like influencer experiences—skyrocketed by 331%.
With the Chuseok holiday approaching, travelers’ interest is also shifting toward Shanghai. Hotels.com reported that Shanghai ranked among the top destinations in search results for overseas travel during this Chuseok holiday. Hana Tour also announced that Shanghai recorded the highest number of bookings, following Zhangjiajie in China and Mount Baekdu.
A Hana Tour official stated, “We are diversifying our travel packages to keep pace with growing demand,” adding, “We are developing a variety of themed packages to offer unique experiences, such as ‘Mingling Tours’ for the 20s and 30s generation, history-education tours led by experts, and tours featuring stays in guesthouses in water villages.”
In the second half of the year, the expansion of air routes to Shanghai is expected to further fuel the popularity of the city. At the Korea-China aviation talks held last May, the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport agreed to increase bilateral traffic rights by 70 weekly flights, focusing on high-demand routes. Following this decision, the Incheon-Shanghai route will be expanded to seven flights per week. As a result, the total number of flights operating on the Incheon-Shanghai route will increase to 63 per week.
