More than 70 percent of foreign visitors who come to South Korea for Korean Wave events are Japanese, a study said Thursday.
An analysis by Kwon Tae-il of the Korea Culture and Tourism Institute showed that among tourists who participated in K-pop, traditional festivals and other cultural events that are broadly called "hallyu," 74.8 percent are from Japan. Chinese visitors come next with 18.4 percent, followed by 3.8 percent from Hong Kong, 0.8 percent from Malaysia, 0.7 percent from Thailand and 0.4 percent from Taiwan.
Among the Japanese visitors, 87 percent are women, according to the study.
(Yonhap)
People in their 40s formed the largest group of hallyu-related visitors at 28.7 percent. Next largest are those in their 20s (23.7 percent), then 30s (23.3 percent). There are also 10.4 percent who are in their 50s, 8.1 percent in the 15-20 age group, and 4.9 percent of people 61 and older.
Myeongdong, a shopping mecca in Seoul, is the most visited site among these travelers with 86.3 percent of them stopping by. It is followed by COEX in southern Seoul (53.1 percent); Sinchon and Hongdae, where university campuses are clustered in western Seoul (47.3 percent); Gangnam subway station (44.1 percent); and Dongdaemun Market (30.2 percent). Multiple answers were allowed for this part of the study.
The results indicate a high level of satisfaction among hallyu travelers at 97.8 percent. They also showed that 97.1 percent of them are willing to revisit Korea within three years. (Yonhap)
