The number of Vietnamese visitors to South Korea has increased sharply along with a recent surge in spending thanks to the resumption of flights. South Korea's international airports in Gimhae, Busan and Muan in South Jeolla Province are operating direct flights to Vietnam.
Data from BC Card, a credit card company, showed that the number of card transactions made by Vietnamese tourists in the first six months of 2023 increased by 468% compared to the previous year. Meanwhile, the annual increase was 358% for foreign tourists excluding Vietnamese, according to the Korea Times .
Vietnamese tourists arrive at Muan International Airport after the pandemic
The data analyzed the card transaction history of 1.2 million foreign tourists between January and June over the past three years. It also revealed that Vietnamese tourists accounted for 51% of their transactions outside Seoul.
Cities and municipalities that saw Vietnamese tourists' spending triple in the first six months of this year include Seoul, Jeju Island, Gyeonggi Province, Busan and South Jeolla Province.
In Seoul, Vietnamese tourists visited major shopping malls in Myeong-dong, the capital's downtown, followed by Seoul's Gangnam district, Yongdam 2-dong on Jeju Island, home to Jeju Airport's duty-free shopping area.
Many people visited Mangwon Market in Seoul, Yeosu in South Jeolla Province as well as Gimpo, west of Seoul, and Busan's Haeundae district, home to Shinsegae Centum City.
Busan has been a popular destination for Vietnamese tourists in recent months, partly due to the city's promotional efforts to host the World Expo in 2030.
A visa-waiver program allowing tourists to stay in the country for 15 days without a visa was implemented by South Jeolla Province in March, leading to an increase in the number of Vietnamese tourists, the report said.
However, Vietnamese tourists have not been able to offset South Korea's widening current account deficit in tourism.
Bank of Korea data on international account balances in May showed the country recorded a tourism account deficit of $820 million (1.04 trillion won), meaning the increase in total overseas spending by South Korean tourists far exceeded the increase in spending by domestic tourists.
Meanwhile, the number of foreign tourists in June reached 961,000, up 321% from a year earlier, the highest number since the Covid-19 pandemic began, according to the Korea Tourism Organization.
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