Jeju tourist consumption increased by 6.4% in the first half of this year... Foreign tourists attract

Jeju tourist consumption in the first half of this year increased by 6.4% compared to the same period last year, thanks to the increase in foreign tourist consumption.

The Jeju Tourism Organization announced on the 29th the 'Jeju Consumption Trend Brief: 2026 1st Quarter (January to March) and 2nd Quarter (April to June) Report', which analyzed the consumption flow of Jeju tourists based on credit card consumption data.

This report is the first quarterly consumption trend report published since the data was reorganized based on BC Card after 2020 as the credit card consumption data provider changed from Shinhan Card to BC Card.

It contains the total consumption scale of domestic and foreign tourists who visited Jeju, consumption characteristics by industry, region, gender, and age, and consumption flow by foreign nationality.

According to the report, Jeju tourist spending in the first half of this year amounted to 1.3141 trillion won, an increase of 6.4% compared to the same period last year.

In particular, foreign tourist consumption increased by 44.4% in the first half of the year, leading to an increase in overall tourist consumption.

By quarter, foreign tourist consumption increased by 63.1% in the first quarter and 34.5% in the second quarter compared to the same period last year, continuing a high growth trend for two consecutive quarters.

On the other hand, domestic tourist consumption increased by 6.1% in the first quarter but decreased by 7.7% in the second quarter, decreasing by 1.5% in the first half of the year compared to the same period last year.

Foreign tourist spending in the second quarter was in the Greater China region, accounting for 45.8% of the total at KRW 85.1 billion, accounting for the largest proportion.

This was followed by Asia with KRW 33.1 billion (17.8%), North America with KRW 31 billion (16.7%), Europe with KRW 22.8 billion (12.3%), Japan with KRW 8 billion (4.3%), and Oceania with KRW 4 billion (2.1%).

The regions where consumption increased the most in the second quarter compared to the first quarter were Europe and North America, with increases of 220.1% and 134.7%, respectively.

Looking at consumption characteristics by nationality, the Greater China region showed a significant increase in consumption in the cosmetics and food sectors, but the European region showed differences, with a relatively high proportion of consumption related to transportation.

In the Greater China region, the proportion of consumption at duty-free shops is still high, and in the second quarter, retail consumption of cosmetics, soap, and air fresheners increased by 51.3% to KRW 11.6 billion compared to the same period last year, and Korean restaurant industry consumption increased by 55.8% to KRW 6.6 billion.

On the other hand, duty-free shop consumption decreased by 1.2% compared to the same period last year to 6 billion won, showing different trends by specific industry.

In Europe, consumption related to mobility stood out, with car rental consumption increasing by 64.5% in the second quarter compared to the same period last year.

Domestic tourist consumption decreased slightly in the first half of the year compared to the same period last year, but consumption in the second quarter increased by 5.8% compared to the first quarter.

Looking at consumption by age group in the second quarter, those in their 50s accounted for the most at KRW 130.6 billion, up 3% from the previous quarter.

Those in their 60s led the increase in consumption, increasing by 30.5% from the previous quarter to KRW 127.5 billion, and those in their 30s increased by 11.8% to KRW 97.9 billion.

The amount consumed per case tended to increase with age, with those in their 20s and younger being 22,000 won and those in their 60s and older being 52,000 won.