Foreign tourists to South Korea surpassed 14 million in 2014.

On Dec 29th, the number of foreign tourists to South Korea surpassed 14 million this year.
Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism and the Korea Tourism Organization held a welcome ceremony on 29th at Cheongju International airport where 14 millionth foreign tourists entering the country.

Official at Korea Tourism Organization said "It is a landmark accomplishments for Korea despite of negatives effects on tourism industry such as Sewol ferry accident and weakening Japanese yen in 2014."

For the 11-month period between January and November this year, number of foreign visitor has increased 16.6 percent from the same period last year, the highest growth rate in ten years.

In terms of nationality of the visitors, Chinese was number 1 with 5.71 million. This is up 40.9 percent from last year. By the end of the year, the number of Chinese tourists is estimated to break the 6-million visitors mark. For Chinese tourists, Korea has become the third most favored tourist destination after Hong Kong and Macau.
Following Chinese tourists, Japan (2.11 million) and the United States (720,000) took the No. 2 and 3 spots respectively.

In terms of growth rate, Hong Kong took the No. 2 spot (500,000) with 39.4 percent, followed by Thailand (420,000, 25.2%) and Russia (200,000, 24.0%). As the number of visitors increases, the Korea Tourism Organization estimated, the tourism income is estimated to be $17.6 billion.

Meanwhile, a competitor in East Asian tourism market, Japan is expected to attract more than 13 million foreign tourists for the first time this year due to weaker yen.