The Korean Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism said that the record in March boosted the number of international visitors in the first quarter by 23% compared to the same period last year, reaching 4.76 million - the highest level ever recorded for the first quarter of the year.
This agency believes that the growth trend comes from the "global spread of Korean culture", despite the instability in the Middle East.
Chinese tourists accounted for the largest proportion with 1.45 million arrivals, an increase of 29% compared to the same period last year, followed by Japanese tourists with 940,915 arrivals, an increase of 20.2%.
The number of international visitors to local airports increased by 49.7%, while the proportion of tourists to areas outside Seoul and surrounding areas increased to 34.5%, compared to 31.3% last year.
Credit card spending by international visitors in the quarter increased by 23%, reaching 3.21 trillion won (about 2.18 billion USD).
Hana Card credit card company alone estimates that foreign tourists who bought tickets to participate in BTS's recent concerts spent about 55.5 billion won in Korea in the period from January 1 to April 12, with an average spending of about 1.85 million won per person.
Hana Card tracked the spending behavior of 30,000 international customers who bought tickets for the first three shows in BTS's world tour in Goyang, South Korea on December 9 and 11.
BTS - the group that contributed to making Kpop a global phenomenon - released their new album "ARIRANG" in March, after temporarily suspending group activities from 2022 to complete their compulsory military service.
The group held a re-show concert in central Seoul in March, before launching a global tour. Analysts predict ticket sales could reach 2.7 trillion won.
