Korea rises to 12th in World Economic Forum tourism index

South Korea ranked 12th among 110 economies in the World Economic Forum's 2025 Travel & Tourism Development Index, the culture ministry said Thursday, up one place from the previous edition and two from 2019.

The gain was broad. South Korea improved in all five areas the index measures. Its strongest move came in tourism sustainability, which rose seven places to 13th from 20th. Tourism resources rose two places to 14th, the environment for tourism businesses reached 18th, infrastructure and services 25th, and tourism policy and enabling conditions 47th, each up one place.

Among the 17 sub-categories, South Korea placed in the top 10 in four: ICT readiness at first, land and port infrastructure and non-leisure resources at ninth, and cultural resources at 10th. It reached the top 10 in 27 of the 102 individual indicators, taking first place in six, including organized violence, access to basic sanitation and drinking water, hospital bed density, energy efficiency regulation and the timeliness of statistical data.

The sharpest single improvement came in seasonality of international tourist arrivals, which jumped to fourth from 33rd in 2023.

"We will use the detailed results by category and sub-category, not just the overall ranking, to analyze the strengths and weaknesses of 'K-tourism' in detail," said Kang Jung-won, director of the ministry's tourism policy bureau. "We will develop the areas where we have secured strong competitiveness while addressing the points that need improvement."

The results also pointed to weak spots. All four indicators in the price competitiveness sub-category — hotel prices, purchasing power parity, fuel prices and short-term rental affordability — ranked below 50th. Tourism spending as a share of the government budget stood at 76th, the number of air service agreements at 62nd and the hospitality reputation index at 65th.

The ministry said those readings show the need to secure more budget for tourism policy, expand air liberalization and improve service and hospitality.