Hanbok, photo studio experiences popular with foreign tourists

Incoming foreign tourists appear increasingly interested in daily life in Korea, including photo studios and hanbok, Korea's traditional costume, data showed Tuesday.

According to Creatrip, a Korean content and commerce platform aimed at travelers, the number of searches it handled related to traveling in Korea in the first half of the year came to just over 945,000, up 88 percent from the previous half. Hanbok and photo studios were the most- and second-most searched-for topics, respectively.

The Creatrip app, available in English, contains useful information for traveling and allows users to make reservations as well as book experiences. It analyzed search keywords and transactions from foreign users for Jan. 1 to June 30.

During the period, transactions via the service for hanbok and photo studio experiences increased by 540 percent and 213 percent, respectively.

Interest in food delivery services were also up, with the number of searches on Creatrip that included the word "delivery" rising 165 percent from the second half of last year, and the number of delivery transactions increasing by 175 percent.

K-beauty, including nail and eyelash treatments, meanwhile, accounted for 22 percent of all transactions booked through Creatrip.

K-pop-related products, however, fell slightly in the first half of the year, after recording the most transactions by category in the second half of 2022. While there were relatively few K-pop events early this year, a rebound is expected for the second half.

“The number of tourists visiting Korea is gradually recovering to pre-pandemic levels,” said Creatrip CEO Lim Hye-min. "As many foreign tourists are following the trends of Koreans, we plan to introduce various services to provide them the same tour experiences as Koreans."