The number of foreign visitors to Korea has surpassed 10 million in the first half of the year. Shown is a crowded Bukchon Hanok Village on March 16 in Seoul's Jongno-gu District. (Korea.net DB)

By Jeong Euiseok

The number of foreign visitors to Korea has surpassed 10 million in the first half of this year.

The Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism on June 24 said the tentative figure as of the third week of June exceeded 10 million. This milestone was thus reached about a month earlier than last year, when the mark was reached in mid-July.

An estimated 1.95 million foreign visitors came in May alone, up 19.4% from 1.63 million year on year.

By country, China in May remained the largest source of visitors with 560,000, followed by Japan with 360,000, the same result as in April. The number of tourists from Taiwan also surged 27.6% to 190,000 and Hong Kong sent about 60,000, highlighting strong growth in the Greater China region.

Arrivals from Europe and the Americas also grew to 360,000, showing growth across a range of regions.

More visitors entered the country at venues outside of the Seoul metropolitan region. The number of such tourists arriving at airports outside of the capital hit 360,000 in May, up 32% from 270,000 year on year.

Card spending by international travelers including online purchases was an estimated KRW 2.1 trillion, surpassing the KRW 2 trillion mark for the first time since compilation of such data began in January 2018. Cumulative card spending from January through May reached KRW 7.98 trillion, up 47.3% year on year.

innocence@korea.kr