The country attracted 12,803,042 foreign visitors from January to July. Shown is the crowded tourist hot spot Myeong-dong Street in Seoul's Jung-gu District. (Korea.net DB)

By Koh Hyunjeong

The number of foreign tourists between January and July this year exceeded 12.8 million, while one in four Japanese choosing to travel overseas went to Korea, an all-time high.

The Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism on Aug. 31 announced this in a report on inbound tourism trends for the cited period.

A combined 12,803,042 foreign visitors came to the country in the year's first seven months, up 21.3% year on year. The number of those from Japan rose 18.8% to 2,280,159, accounting for 28% of all Japanese travelers going abroad.

Card spending by foreign tourists also surged 48.3% to KRW 12.08 trillion.

The rise in the number of Japanese visitors was attributed to expanded flight capacity between Korea and Japan, the weak JPY and popularity of Hallyu (Korean Wave). Weekly seat capacity on Korea-Japan routes increased 2.4% from late last year.

The ministry and the Korea Tourism Organization in October will host K-Beauty Week in Tokyo and hold promotional activities at provincial airports such as those in Gimhae, Gyeongsangnam-do Province, Jeju Island and Cheongju, Chungcheongbuk-do Province.

hjkoh@korea.kr