Seoul Metropolitan Government analyzes big data on Japanese visitors

Average stay 3.5 days; return rate 71%

One- to two-night trips focused on shopping, dining and beauty

Women in their 20s and 30s account for 34% of all Japanese tourists

Foreign tourists crowd Myeong-dong in Jung-gu, Seoul, in August this year. [Herald DB]
Foreign tourists crowd Myeong-dong in Jung-gu, Seoul, in August this year. [Herald DB]

Japanese tourists visiting Seoul are increasingly drawn to so-called "bullet trips" — one- or two-night stays packed with only the experiences they came for. An analysis by the Seoul Metropolitan Government confirms that Japanese visitors prefer to spend their short itineraries intensively on shopping, dining and beauty treatments, squeezing as much as possible into a brief window.

The city released the findings Monday after analyzing big data on Japanese tourists visiting South Korea, along with travel community posts.

According to the Seoul Tourism Foundation's Seoul Tourism Survey, Japanese tourists stayed an average of 3.5 days last year — shorter than Chinese visitors (5.9 days) and Taiwanese visitors (6.0 days). Their return rate stood at 71 percent, higher than that of Chinese (56 percent) and Taiwanese (59 percent) tourists. The Seoul Metropolitan Government attributed the city's appeal to its geographic proximity to Japan and the ease with which visitors can enjoy shopping, dining and K-beauty in a compact area.

The city also highlighted the high proportion of women in their 20s and 30s among Japanese tourists. According to the Korea Tourism Organization's "2026 Report on Expanding the Japanese Market by Converting Domestic Japan Travel Demand," women accounted for 68 percent of the 3.65 million Japanese visitors to South Korea last year, with women in their 20s and 30s making up 34 percent of the total.

Data from the Seoul Metropolitan Government's big data platform showed that medical and wellness services — including beauty treatments, health care and skin management — topped spending categories for Japanese tourists visiting Seoul in the first half of this year, at 48.0 percent. Shopping came next at 24.3 percent, followed by dining at 17.7 percent and accommodation at 9.2 percent.

Travel reviews shared on Japanese SNS platforms and travel communities, as cited by the city, showed visitors fitting shopping and dining around Myeong-dong and Dongdaemun into their itineraries alongside body scrubs and beauty procedures. The pattern reflects a shift away from sightseeing toward experiences unique to Seoul.

One review on the Japanese platform Konest described a tourist who spent a one-night, two-day trip touring Gwangjang Market and Changsin-dong before shopping and dining in Dongdaemun. The following morning, she visited a solo body-scrub shop at 6 a.m., had semi-permanent eyebrow tattooing done in Myeong-dong, and departed for home at 2 p.m.

The tourist said she was able to use her travel time efficiently and was so satisfied with the procedure that she plans to return to Seoul. "I had my eyebrows done at an art makeup shop in Myeong-dong — it opened at 8 a.m., so I could make good use of my time while traveling," she wrote. "There was a Japanese-speaking staff member, which put me at ease during the consultation. I was so happy with the results that I'm planning to come back to Seoul in two months for a touch-up."

The Seoul Metropolitan Government said it plans to promote tourism and the nighttime economy together to meet demand from visitors seeking diverse experiences within short itineraries.

Specifically, the city will work in tandem with its "24-Hour Vibrant Economy City Seoul" policy to map out tourism routes in designated tourism zones such as Myeong-dong and Dongdaemun — routes that flow from late-night shopping and dining through to early-morning activities the next day.

The aim is to extend the hours during which tourists can enjoy Seoul and ensure that nighttime spending feeds vitality back into local commercial districts.

"Being able to enjoy a variety of experiences — shopping, dining and beauty — one after another, even on a short trip, is one of Seoul's great strengths as a tourism destination," said Cho Seong-ho, director of the Seoul Metropolitan Government's Tourism and Sports Bureau. "Going forward, we will expand tourism content into the late-night and early-morning hours, and provide tailored information and services that match the travel patterns of short-haul visitors, so that tourists leave more satisfied with their time in Seoul."


ken@heraldcorp.com