Vietnamese tourists top in card spending in Korea in 2022

Vietnamese tourists splurged the most among foreign visitors to South Korea last year, filling the void left by Chinese travelers shunning Korea since Beijing’s ban on Chinese group tours to Korea in retaliation against Seoul’s decision in 2016 to launch a US missile defense shield on its soil.

According to Korean credit card and financial service company BC Card Co. on Wednesday, Vietnamese tourists’ per-capita authorized card transactions stood at 197,000 won ($147.21) in 2022, 89% more than what they spent the previous year.

This was higher than 188,000 won average card purchases by the second-biggest spender Japanese tourists. Chinese visitors, once the most extravagant spenders among foreign tourists visiting Korea, paid 171,000 won per person with credit cards, followed by Taiwanese travelers’ 126,000 won and Americans’ 109,000 won.  

Total card payments by Vietnamese visitors in Korea last year ballooned by 308% on-year.

Over the last three years, Vietnamese have indulged in shopping in duty-free outlets and department stores, as well as on hospital visits and cosmetics in Korea. In particular, their spending at tax-free stores and department stores last year exploded by 1,837% and 400%, respectively, from the year prior.

Korea expects spending by Vietnamese visitors will continue to grow this year, citing the rapid growth of middle-class households in the Southeast Asian country, which is expected to further fuel demand for international travel.

KOREA’S INBOUND TRAVELERS ON THE RISE

Vietnamese visitors to Korea are already on the rapid increase this year.

According to the Korea Tourism Organization, the number of Vietnamese visitors to Korea reached 85,378 in the first three months of this year, up a whopping 587.6% from the same period last year.

The overall outlook for foreign visitors to Korea is bright thanks to the lifting of COVID-19 restrictions and the improved visa process.

In the January-March period, 1,714,252 foreigners visited Korea, jumping more than sixfold from the same period last year. In March alone, 800,000 foreigners landed in Korea, a clear sign of recovery in the Korean tourism sector.

Japan topped in the number of foreign visitors with 353,611, up a whopping 6,337.5%, trailed by Americans with 181,754, Taiwanese with 160,951 and Chinese with 144,220.

The number of Chinese tourists, once the most populous visitors to Korea, has yet to recover after plunging due to the Chinese government’s ban on group tours to Korea in protest against the Korean government’s decision to deploy the US' Terminal High Altitude Area Defense system (THAAD) in 2016.

Korea hopes Vietnamese tourists can fill the void left by Chinese tourists as it is preparing to expand local use of credit cards issued by the National Payment Corporation of Vietnam (NAPAS).

NAPAS-branded cards are issued mostly by Vietnam’s 48 commercial banks but the cards' use in Korea is currently restricted to select major duty-free shops or other retailers due to technical issues such as slow upgrades in point-of-sale machines to accept NAPAS-branded cards.

BC Card in October last year completed the process to enable Vietnamese tourists to use NAPAS cards in Korea, and once more shops and restaurants in Korea accept NAPAS cards, Vietnamese card spending in Korea is projected to further increase, according to BC Card.

Write to Mi-Hyun Jo at mwise@hankyung.com

Sookyung Seo edited this article.