Japanese tourists flood Korea for Golden Week
- Japanese travel agencies and Korean officials say South Korea is drawing a surge of Golden Week visitors, with Seoul ranked HIS’s top destination. - HIS said overseas bookings for trips from April 24 to May 6 are up 26.7% year on year; Seoul ranked first. - Korea is chasing the demand as first-quarter foreign arrivals hit 4.76 million, up 23% year on year. (ajupress.com)
South Korea is heading into Japan’s Golden Week with a jump in Japanese bookings, and Seoul is the top pick at major agency HIS. (koreajoongangdaily.joins.com) HIS said overseas travel bookings for departures from April 24 through May 6 are expected to rise 26.7% from a year earlier. The agency ranked Seoul No. 1 for Japanese travelers, with Jeju and Busan also making its top six. (koreajoongangdaily.joins.com) JTB, another major Japanese agency, forecast 572,000 outbound travelers between April 25 and May 7, up 8.5% from last year. It said South Korea, Taiwan and Southeast Asia remain the preferred short-haul choices. (travelvoice.jp) (koreajoongangdaily.joins.com) KKDAY JAPAN reported an even sharper move in activity bookings. Its reservations for overseas local experiences during a pre-Golden Week window were as much as 2.2 times last year’s level, with South Korea posting the fastest growth. (travelvoice.jp) The push toward Korea is lining up with a broader tourism boom in South Korea. The Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism said the country received a record 4.76 million foreign visitors in the first quarter, up 23% from a year earlier. (ajupress.com) Japanese arrivals reached 940,915 in the first quarter, up 20.2%, second only to China’s 1.45 million visitors. More than a third of foreign travelers also went outside Seoul, a sign that demand is spreading beyond the capital. (ajupress.com) Travel agencies and Japanese media tied the shift to higher long-haul costs, a weak yen and easier short trips nearby. Korea JoongAng Daily, citing The Asahi Shimbun and Nippon TV, said disruptions on Europe routes and higher fuel costs were pushing travelers toward closer destinations. (koreajoongangdaily.joins.com) Golden Week in 2026 officially runs across holidays from April 29 to May 6, and many workers can stretch that into a longer break by using paid leave. That calendar is giving Korean tourism officials a clear opening just as May travel demand peaks across Northeast Asia. (travelvoice.jp)
