1 in 3 Seoul tourists comes from China

One out of 3 three tourists visiting the capital of South Korea is Chinese, with the proportion gradually increasing over the years, a public think tank reported Tuesday.

According the Seoul Institute, Chinese nationals accounted for about 36 percent of all tourists to the capital in 2013, followed by Japanese with 24.2 percent. This is the first time that the number of Chinese visitors surpassed that of Japanese.

Travelers from the U.S. and Taiwan took the third and fourth spots with 6.5 percent and 6 percent, respectively, the report said.

The institute also noted that the number of overall expat tourists has gradually increased over years, with an average annual increase of 12.9 percent. Last year, the figure reached 1.15 million.

In terms of tourist destinations, the Myeong-dong shopping district attracted the most tourists with about 73 percent visiting, followed by Dongdaemun market and the National Palace, with 56.6 percent and 39.1 percent, respectively.

More than half of shopping tourists went to Myeong-dong. Others shopped at local duty-free shops, Dongdaemun market and department stores, the institute said.

Preferred shopping areas differed depending on nationality, it added.

While the majority of Japanese tourists preferred to visit Myeong-dong for shopping, Chinese visitors chose duty-free shops. Nearly half of Arabic shoppers preferred Dongdaemun market whereas American, Canadian and Russian travelers picked department stores.

On the other hand, Australian, English and German tourists went shopping the least, with around 30 percent from each country saying they did not visit the shopping districts.

Meanwhile, neighborhoods around Hongdae, Coex and Gangnam Station saw a gradual rise in the number of foreign visitors, the report added.

By Lee Hyun-jeong (rene@heraldcorp.com)