▲ Foreign tourists, some dressed in the traditional Korean attire of hanbok, take photos while visiting Gyeongbok Palace in central Seoul, in this undated file photo. (Yonhap)

SEOUL, Oct. 22 (Yonhap) -- Foreign tourist arrivals in South Korea surpassed 17 million in the first nine months of the year, putting the country on track to exceed last year's annual total, data showed Thursday.

The Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism reported 17.11 million foreign visitors from January to September, up 21.5 percent from 14 million a year earlier.

The ministry expects this year's annual figure to surpass last year's total as early as this month, as the nine-month tally represents 90.3 percent of the 18.94 million people who visited Korea last year.

In September alone, the country welcomed 2.06 million foreign tourists, up 21.1 percent from a year earlier.

The number of monthly foreign visitors topped the 2 million-mark five times this year with 2.05 million in March, 2.03 million in April, 2.09 million in July, 2.25 million in August and 2.06 million in September.

China remained the largest source of visitors during the January-September period with 5.47 million arrivals, followed by travelers from Japan at 3.99 million, Taiwan at 1.86 million and Hong Kong at 550,000. Visitors from the Americas totaled 1.62 million, while those from Europe stood at 1.19 million.

Credit card spending by inbound travelers reached 15.94 trillion won (US$12 billion) during the same period, up 47.7 percent from a year earlier.

Foreign arrivals through regional airports and ports also increased.

A total of 3.24 million foreigners entered South Korea through regional airports, including Gimhae, Jeju, Cheongju and Daegu, in the first nine months of the year, up 37.4 percent from the same period last year.

Arrivals through regional ports, including Busan, Jeju, Seogwipo, Yeosu and Gunsan, rose 14.5 percent to 1.58 million.

Regional airports and ports accounted for 19 percent and 9.2 percent of all foreign arrivals, respectively, making up a combined 28.2 percent of total inbound visitors.

(END)

[ⓒ K-VIBE. 무단전재-재배포 금지]