Jeju drew 2.24 mil. foreign tourists last year, 70% from China

More than 2.24 million foreign tourists visited Jeju Island last year, with Chinese travelers making up nearly 70 percent — underscoring the island’s continued reliance on visitors from China. According to the Jeju Tourism Association on Saturday, foreign tourists accounted for 16.2 percent of the island’s total 13.86 million visitors last year. The number was up 17.7 percent from 2024 but remained more than 1.3 million below the record 3.6 million set in 2016. Chinese tourists made up the largest share at 70.2 percent, followed by visitors from Taiwan, Japan, the United States, Hong Kong and Singapore. Visitors from Thailand totaled 10,532, the sharpest year-on-year increase at 349.7 percent, after Jeju Air resumed regular flights on the Bangkok route last year. The number of Chinese tourists rose 14.8 percent compared to 2024, easing concerns about a potential downturn in Jeju following last year’s nationwide rollout of a temporary visa-free program for Chinese tour groups. Jeju Island has long been a popular destination for Chinese tourists under a visa-free scheme that allows

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