Seoul Tourism Organization (STO) announced Seoul’s tourism trends for the year 2026 - “V·I·T·A·L·I·T·Y.” With a goal of attracting 30 million foreign tourists, Seoul is leading efforts to boost tourism.
STO said on Jan. 19 that it analyzed macro global tourism trends of the UN Tourism and World Travel & Tourism Council (WTTC), survey data on foreign inbound visitors to Seoul and real-time social data based on Instagram, YouTube and X.
‘V·I·T·A·L·I·T·Y’ is a combination of the initials of “Vibrant Content City,” “Immersive Local Life,” “Tailored Smart Travel,” “Ambient Wellness,” “Living Emotion,” “Inclusive Choice,” “Trusted Global Hub” and “Your Seoul.”
The trends signify inbound tourists’ experiencing the vitality of the city beyond travel to Seoul, a simple visit, and heralding of the start of a new tourism trend.
Global tourism is changing from simply visiting famous locations to immersive content experiences. In keeping with the trends, Seoul is evolving into a content-oriented immersive on-site platform based on its intrinsic content. Recent foreign tourists had apparent demand to experience local daily life.
Demand has surged among revisitors, particularly young people, Contemporary people prioritizing efficiency tend to reflect lifestyles, departing form past trends.
STO explores and introduces travel destinations tailored to meet their tastes based on the recommendations from AI.
Furthermore, STO is exploring ways of maximizing comfort and excitement through downtown travel, such as city-type wellness travel near the capital.
It is offering a wide scope of travel choices to a variety of tourists, such as luxury, cost-effective, group and individual travelers.
STO CEO Gil Ki-yeon said, “As the Year 2025 ushered in an era of receiving the largest-ever inbound tourists, a proactive response is now required to prepare for a market expansion, and we will redouble efforts to advance an era of attracting 30 million foreign tourists by exploring tourism content and establishing tourist attraction strategies to meet their needs in accordance with ‘VITALITY,’ Seoul’s tourism milestone.”
A throng of spectators look at a light architecture displaying a process of evolving 100 Magikarps into Gyarados in the production “I Love Magikarp” produced in cooperation with Pokémon Korea. (Photo: SMG)
Seoul Lantern Festival Attracts 3.83 Million Tourists
Seoul Tourism Organization said the 2025 Seoul Lantern Festival attracted 3.83 million tourists, more than 100,000 people per day, during a 37-day run, establishing itself as the nation’s representative winter festival.
The 2025 Seoul Lantern Festival took place at the Cheonggyecheon and Uicheon areas under the theme “My Light, Our Dream and Seoul’s Magic.” It showcased more than 400 architectures and media art works.
The festival logged the largest-ever visitor numbers by offering yearend and New Year’s night tourism content to not only Seoulites but also Koreans and inbound tourists.
The latest event expanded the festival space to the Uicheon area, beyond the Cheonggyecheon area, for the fist time as part of the Seoul Metropolitan Government’s plan to make riverside areas tourist hotspots.
The Cheonggyecheon area had been brightened from 6 p.m. until 11 p.m. every day, extending by one hour to boost night tourism.
The Cheonggyecheon and Uicheon areas were decorated with a variety of material light architectures using the keywords “Dream” and “Magic” in the background of Seoul’s winter night.
The whole story of the festival, centering around “Dream” and “Magic,” portraited a process of expanding light into daily life – stretching from “the moment the lights go on” to “presents of light” and “moving lights,” completing an epic that could provoke sympathy among all generations of people.
A light architecture displayed a process of evolving 100 Magikarps into Gyarados in the production “I Love Magikarp,” which was produced in cooperation with Pokémon Korea.
Participatory experience programs, such as the “Magikarp Store”, were in place on the Jangtong Bridge to attract spectators.
The Seoul Lantern Festival has been upgraded into a participation festival, with reinforced participation elements, such as photo zones and background music, departing from the conventional exhibition and viewing format.
STO CEO Gil Ki-yeon said, “The latest Seoul Lantern Festival was greatly beloved by citizens and tourists by showcasing exotic collaboration and highly refined storytelling based on knowhow it had accumulated for the past 17 years, and we will not stop challenging creativity to make the festival an exemplary case of global urban festival in the future.”
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