South Korea
Introduction
Travellers from South Korea made 23.8 million outbound visits in 2023, with a total international tourism expenditure of US$27.8 billion.
In 2023, the UK welcomed 182,000 visits from South Korea. During the travellers’ visits, their total expenditure was £218.8 million, with an average spend of £1,204 per visit.
Discover visitor behaviour, travel trade insights, detailed data visualisations for this market – and more. The statistics in this market report are collated from a range of sources such as the Office for National Statistics (ONS), as well as sponsored questions and our own research. For further details, see How we source this information.
Explore the inbound data in full
Use our visualisations to see data from this market in greater depth and clarity. Compare annual statistics, and filter by age group, gender, trip duration and more. Includes seasonality, trip purpose and regional spread of visitors to UK destinations. This data is based on the International Passenger Survey, conducted by the Office for National Statistics (ONS).
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Perceptions of Britain in the South Korean market
- South Koreans regarded the UK as the sixth strongest brand out of 60 countries in the 2023 Anholt-Ipsos Nation Brands index.
- The UK ranked within the top five nations for ‘sports’, ‘vibrant cities’, ‘contemporary culture’ and ‘culture generally’.
- The cultural products most associated with Britain for South Koreans are museums, sports and music.
- Words associated with Britain include ‘educational’, ‘fascinating’, and ‘romantic’.
Global context
Top-level statistics relating to the population, GDP, tourism expenditure and popular destinations for this market. For greater detail on inbound tourism flows from this market to the UK, see our data visualisations.
| Measure | 2023 |
| International tourism expenditure (US$bn) | 27.8 |
| Global rank for international tourism expenditure | 10 |
| Number of outbound visits (m) | 23.8 |
| Most visited destination | Japan |
| Most visited destination in Western Europe | France |
Key demographic and economic data
| Measure | 2023 |
| Population (m) | 52 |
| GDP per capita PPP (US$) | 56,354 |
| Annual average GDP growth over past decade (%) | 2.6 |
| Annual GDP growth (%) | 1.4 |
Access to Britain from South Korea
The key routes and transport modes that connect this market with the UK.
| Measure | 2023 |
| Weekly aircraft departures | 13 |
| Weekly seat capacity | 3,966 |
| Airports with direct routes in South Korea | 1 |
| Airports with direct routes in Britain | 1 |
- In 2023, the direct South Korea to Britain route was Seoul to London Heathrow.
- Two airlines served the South Korea route: Korean Air and Asiana Airlines.
- Following the COVID-19 pandemic, scheduled seat capacity on non-stop flights from South Korea to the UK had recovered to 66% of 2019 levels in 2023.
- The current reduced rate of Air Passenger Duty for visitors departing Britain for South Korea is £88.
Further resources
South Korea Market Snapshot.pdf
South Korea Market Profile
South Korea Aviation Profile
South Korea COVID-19 Travel Sentiment - Published April 2022
Where visitors from South Korea to the UK reside in their own country.xlsx
How South Korean travellers use social media on holiday compared with travellers from other countries - Published 2015
How we source this information
We work with a number of data sources to provide a rich and insightful picture of our key inbound source markets. This includes, but is not limited to, data provided by Oxford Economics, the UNWTO, Apex, Anholt-Ipsos Nation Brands Index and from our own surveys and ad-hoc research. The largest share of these data comes from the International Passenger Survey (IPS) by the ONS.
Visit our About the International Passenger Survey page for more information on how this data is collected and analysed.
