The number of foreign visitors to Seoul exceeded 10 million in 2013 due to increasing number of Chinese tourists

Thanks to a jump in the number of Chinese tourists in korea, the number of foreign visitors to Seoul exceeded 10 million last year for the first time, with Chinese being the majority, the Seoul Institute said Thursday.
The number of Chinese tourists jumped 53% on-year to 3.56 million last year, while that of Japanese visitors tumbled 22% to 2.26 million
For the first time, the number of Chinese tourists visiting Seoul has outnumbered Japanese travelers. They also spent more money on average than Japanese visitors.

The fall in the number of Japanese visitors reflect the phenomenon of the weaker yen against the won, which makes Korean products more expensive in yen terms.

In 2013, foreign visitors spent an average of 1.41 million won per person, nearly a two-fold increase from 738,000 won in 2007, according to the institute. Shopping accounted for the largest share of their expenditure at 543,000 won.

The biggest spenders were the Taiwanese, who consumed averagely 1.46 million won per person, followed by the Chinese and Japanese.
Chinese tourist usually buy cosmetic while Japanese shop for grocery and South-east asian tourists shop clothing most of time in Seoul.

During their Seoul trips, the foreigners stayed 5.4 days on average, up from 4.8 days in 2008, spending nights mostly at less expensive lodging facilities such as business hotels, inns, guest houses, youth hostels rather than luxury hotels, according to the data

The shopping district near Hongik University, Samcheong-dong, Gang nam and Sinsa-dong emerged as the most popular destinations for tourists, the survey showed. In 2007, only 6% hung out in the vicinity of Hongik University, and in 2013, number increased to 35%.

Traditional tourist spots including Namdaemun Market, Dongdaemun Market,major palaces and national museum slightly lost their allure as the the number of tourists who visited there in 2013 decreased from previous years.

According to the institute, there were still many aspects that Seoul city needs to improve upon for better tour experience such as providing services for more tourist information and accommodation bookings.
Foreign tourists who visited seoul on the survey complained about language barrier(50%),traffic jams(22%) and touting(21%) most.