Korea Tops Japanese Travel Rankings With Record 28% Share

Korea became Japanese travelers' top overseas destination through July 2026, drawing 2.28 million visitors and a record 28% share of Japan's outbound market.

South Korea was the most popular overseas destination for Japanese travelers from January to July 2026, according to Korea's Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism. A total of 2,280,159 Japanese visitors arrived in that span, up 18.8% from 1.92 million a year earlier, and Korea captured 28% of Japan's outbound travel market — the highest share on record, ahead of the United States at 13.1%, Taiwan at 9.4%, Thailand at 6.8%, and Vietnam at 6.1%.

The surge far outpaced Japan's broader outbound recovery: only 8.14 million Japanese traveled overseas through July, up just 4.1% year over year, while trips to Korea jumped 18.8%. Korea's share rose 3.5 percentage points from 24.5% a year earlier. The Korea Herald notes the affection runs both ways — Japan has been Koreans' most-searched overseas destination since 2023 — though the flow is lopsided, with Koreans making a record 9.46 million visits to Japan in 2025 versus 3.65 million Japanese visits to Korea.

Aju Press reports regional airports saw the sharpest gains: Gimhae International Airport near Busan recorded 269,752 Japanese arrivals, up 52%, Jeju saw 22,048, up 60%, and Cheongju recorded 20,548, up 93%. Weekly seat capacity on Korea-Japan routes rose 2.4% to 348,751 in July. Aju Press also cites Japanese agencies: JTB ranked Korea first in overseas bookings during Golden Week, and HIS ranked Seoul first among overseas cities, with Jeju and Busan fifth and sixth.

Officials point to three main drivers: expanded air capacity, the popularity of K-pop, K-beauty and Korean food, and currency movements. Per the Korea Herald, the yen fell 4.2% against the dollar and 4% against the yuan from December to July but only 2.2% against the won, making Korea relatively affordable. Korea JoongAng Daily adds that high fuel prices from the Iran war prompted airlines to shift capacity toward shorter routes like Japan, while the ministry distributed 10,000 discount coupons to Japanese travelers.

Japanese visitors are part of a broader boom: total foreign arrivals to Korea reached 12.8 million through July, up 21.3%, with China the largest single source at 3.99 million visitors, up 27.5%. Foreign credit card spending rose 48.3% to 12.09 trillion won (about $8.7 billion), growing faster than arrivals. "The increasing number of Japanese tourists visiting Korea is a fresh energizer for the Korean tourism industry," said Kang Jung-won, the Culture Ministry's tourism policy chief.

The ministry plans promotional booths at major Japanese airports such as Fukuoka ahead of Japan's Silver Week holiday from Sept. 19 to 23, according to Korea JoongAng Daily. Aju Press reports the government is developing regional tourism packages tied to local airports, airfare discounts, and charter flight incentives. The Korea Herald adds that Korean and Japanese tourism authorities will meet in September to mark the 40th anniversary of their bilateral consultative council.