Tourist arrival gap between S.Korea, Japan widens sharply

Since Japan resumed visa-free travel for South Koreans in October last year, South Koreans have been flocking to the neighboring country.

But the number of Japanese tourists to South Korea has dropped sharply, even after Seoul lifted visa restrictions on the Japanese the following month.

The shrinking number of Japanese visitors has further widened the gap between the number of visitors to each country.

The two countries are the most popular destinations for each other.

According to the Korean Tourism Organization and Japan’s tourism authority on Friday, the number of Japanese people who traveled to South Korea in January was down 19.4% to 434,429, compared to December 2022's figure.

By contrast, a growing number of South Koreans visited Japan, some 565,200 in January. 

The sharp decrease in Japanese tourist numbers is attributed in large part to the overall decline in the number of foreign visitors to South Korea.

The stronger won and high inflation in South Korea are blamed for the rapid drop in Japanese tourist numbers.

The won firmed to the low end of the 970 won range against the Japanese yen this month, versus the 1,191 level in February 2020.

Now McDonald’s signature Big Mac sells for 5,200 won in South Korea, while it costs 4,384 won in Japan based on the current exchange rate.

Thanks to Japan's steady efforts to boost its tourism infrastructure during the pandemic, it ranked first among 117 countries in the Travel & Tourism Development Index 2021 released by the World Economic Forum.

Write to Mee-Kyung Lee, Si-On Park and Yu-Rim Oh at capital@hankyung.com

Yeonhee Kim edited this article