Seoul is fourth most searched global city for summer travel: survey

The South Korean capital of Seoul is surging in global popularity as a summer travel destination amid the first peak summer season since COVID-19 went endemic worldwide, according to a survey.

The Amsterdam, Netherlands-based hotel reservation site Booking.com on Tuesday said that based on its analysis of traveler search data worldwide including in South Korea, Seoul surged to No. 4 on the list of the most popular cities searched for as summer travel destinations based on stays during the peak summer season of July 1 through August 31.

The destinations with the highest year-on-year growth in searches were Tokyo, Kyoto and Osaka, Japan; Seoul; Sarande, Albania; Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia; Bangkok, Thailand; Singapore; Vienna, Austria; and Prague, Czech Republic.

Compared to the same period last year, Seoul saw a 169% jump in search volume as the capital attracted major interest from global travelers.

The number of foreign visitors to South Korea during the summer vacation season is expected to explode. Searches for the nation's travel destinations by Taiwanese travelers skyrocketed an amazing 13,350% and those by people in Hong Kong 1999%, showing booming demand for tourism in Korea.

The number of Japanese tourists to Korea this summer is also expected to rise.

Among the 10 most searched travel destinations by such travelers, Seoul was the lone overseas entry at seventh as most opted for domestic cities like Tokyo, Osaka, Sapporo and Kyoto. The search volume for the South Korean capital also jumped about 187% year on year.

Write to Mi-Kyoung Lee at capital@hankyung.com