A Japanese tourist visiting South Korea recently received a staggering receipt after taking a taxi. The fare for a ride from Myeongdong in Seoul to Gimpo Airport came out to a whopping 480,000 won. With the departure time of their flight fast approaching, the tourist had no choice but to pay the exorbitant amount. After later discovering that the average taxi fare for this route is around 30,000 won, the tourist filed a complaint with the authorities. Investigations revealed that the taxi driver had operated the vehicle without turning on the taximeter, manually entering the fare upon arrival at the destination.

Riding the wave of the "K-Culture" boom, South Korea is on the verge of welcoming 20 million inbound foreign tourists for the first time in history. However, the quality of services on the ground is failing to keep pace.

According to the Korea Tourism Organization on the 20th, cumulative inbound foreign visitors from January to August reached 15.04 million, a 21.6% increase compared to the same period last year. At this rate, foreign tourists this year are expected to exceed 22 million. During the same period, credit card spending by foreigners also surged by 48.5% to 14.018 trillion won.

However, the number of complaints filed by foreign tourists is also on the rise. Data from the Korea Tourism Intelligence Lab shows that 2,057 complaints regarding foreign tourism were received nationwide between January and September of this year. This is double the number of annual complaints recorded in 2019 (1,023 cases), just before the COVID-19 pandemic. It also surpasses last year's annual complaint count (1,593 cases), which had set a record high for inbound foreign visitors. By category, complaints were most frequent in accommodation, shopping, taxis, airports (aviation), and restaurants, in that order. As foreign tourism demand, once concentrated in Seoul, spreads to regional areas, complaints are increasing not only in Seoul but also in Busan, Incheon, and Jeju.

Controversies over "rip-off pricing" persist. An American tourist received a restaurant bill with a separate charge of 15,000 won for "tableware and side dish usage." A Chinese tourist experienced a situation last month where, after taking a taxi in Seoul and having the fare automatically deducted, the driver demanded on-site payment once again. There were also cases where accommodation providers demanded extra fees for already-confirmed reservations or unilaterally canceled bookings to resell rooms at higher prices.

Allegations of discrimination against foreigners also continued. A Filipino tourist had to turn away from a restaurant on a weekend evening because the owner told them that "business was closed." However, eight Korean nationals were subsequently allowed to enter the same restaurant and dine. Another Chinese tourist at a Busan hotel last month had their request for extra blankets and complimentary bottled water rejected.

As the travel trends of inbound tourists shift away from uniform sightseeing spots toward immersing themselves in "Koreans' everyday spaces," such everyday inconveniences are expected to become even more frequent. According to the Korea Tourism Intelligence Lab’s "2025 Foreign Tourist Survey," the tourism activities considered prior to visiting Korea were culinary tourism (61.7%), shopping (57.3%), and enjoying natural scenery (35.6%), in that order. Notably, visits related to K-pop and Hallyu stars increased from 14.2% in 2024 to 17.1% last year, whereas visits to palaces and historical sites decreased from 24.1% to 21.6% over the same period.

The problem is that unlike major tourist destinations, everyday spaces like local alley commercial districts often lack sufficient guidance and convenience facilities for foreigners.

Public restrooms are a prime example. As of January this year, Seoul had 5,703 public restrooms—more than Tokyo, Japan (about 4,200)—yet finding a restroom is considered a major hurdle among foreigners. This is largely because many private restrooms open in alleys are not properly marked on mapping services like Google Maps, which foreigners predominantly use. They are frequently secured with door locks or lack adequate English guidance signs. The situation is so severe that foreign tourists have even resorted to using dedicated mobile apps solely to locate restrooms in the Seoul area.

On the 19th, the front of a rice cake shop in Seongsu-dong, Seongdong-gu, Seoul, was bustling with foreign tourists. About half of the dozens of people standing in line were foreigners. However, due to a lack of proper dining spaces, they ended up eating while standing on the street, frequently bumping into passersby. Watchawat Tungsincharoen (38) from Thailand shared, "Korea's street food is fantastic, but I couldn't find a trash can, so I walked around holding my trash for 30 minutes."

Inconveniences stemming from cultural differences are also surfacing. Kurd (44), who visited South Korea from the United Arab Emirates, expressed his frustration, saying, "This is my second trip to Korea, but it is still a grueling experience to find halal food suitable for Muslims."

Experts point out that certain tourism and cultural facilities need to strengthen their competitiveness to attract foreign tourists. Although gaining word-of-mouth popularity as K-tourism hotspots, the National Museum of Korea recorded about 230,000 foreign visitors last year, accounting for just 3.5% of its total visitors. Some regional museums affiliated with the National Museum of Korea saw foreign visitor shares of less than 1%. A lack of customized services for foreign spectators, such as interpretation, is cited as the core factor.

Voices are rising emphasizing the need to focus on the qualitative outcomes of inbound tourism. According to the Korea Culture and Tourism Institute, the repeat visit rate of foreign tourists to South Korea stands relatively high at 56.5%, but it is 8 percentage points lower than that of Japan. Furthermore, data submitted by the Korea Tourism Organization to People Power Party lawmaker Jung Yeon-wook of the National Assembly's Culture, Sports and Tourism Committee showed that the average length of stay for inbound foreigners dropped by 1.3 days from 7.8 days in 2023 to 6.5 days last year.

Lee Hoon, a professor in the Department of Tourism at Hanyang University, evaluated, "The emerging phenomenon of foreign tourists consuming and experiencing everyday Korean life broadens and deepens the scope of Korean tourism, which is also desirable in terms of revitalizing alleys and regional commercial districts." At the same time, he advised, "If we want to prevent this tourism boom from ending as a one-time fad, authorities must make concerted efforts to increase convenience facilities in areas heavily frequented by foreign tourists and alleviate congestion."

[ⓒ Global Economic Times. 무단전재-재배포 금지]