The way foreigners travel to Korea is changing rapidly. Instead of the old method of scanning only key points, “Dailyication,” which directly lives in K-daily life, is emerging as a new normal. This is the result of Maeil Business Newspaper’s analysis of daily trends based on card data (based on the number of consumption) and social data for the last two years (2024-2025, January-June) of the “Korea Tourism Data Lab” with the Korea Tourism Organization.
From tourists to ‘daily consumers’
“It feels like I’m seeing a foreigner with black hair living in Korea.”
To define the way foreigners travel to Korea in one word, it is like this. If the past method was a fixed “spot-centered movement,” foreign travelers visiting Korea are now enthusiastic about “K-daily living.” This is a result of the desire to live according to the scenes in Korean life. In the process, “food enjoyed by idols,” “make-up routine in dramas,” and “a way to spend leisure like Koreans” are emerging as new “tourism routes.”
This trend is clearly revealed in the results of a 2024 survey of potential tourists visiting Korea (activities wishing to participate when visiting Korea, overlapping answers). When asked what activities foreigners want to do most in Korea, △ Korean food (street food, convenience store food, etc.) △ K-beauty experience (49.7%) △ unique space experience such as PC room and karaoke (48.9%) rather than traditional tourist attractions are sweeping the top ranks. What is impressive is that this consumption pattern of foreigners visiting Korea is surprisingly consistent with the travel trend of Koreans.
As a result of analyzing the similarity of data on domestic and foreign consumption patterns through card data, the consumption ranking of foreigners in major industries such as K-food, K-beauty, and K-culture is close to 90% of that of Koreans.
An official from the Korea Tourism Organization said, “The ‘K daily experience’ chosen by foreigners is also the most preferred experience for Koreans,” adding, “This trend clearly shows that it comes from sensory experiences that can be sympathized rather than cultural differences.”
a foreigner who even enjoys playing K
While playing a game in a PC room, I taste K ramen. I immerse myself in the room escape cafe in the following afternoon. At night? Of course, karaoke is next. have a good time singing K-pop. It is not the daily life of Koreans. It is a day of foreign tourists who follow the “Korean way of playing.” The experience of just playing like a Korean for a day is becoming a “travel” in itself. As this trend spreads, the travel hotspots they enjoy are also fluctuating.
Seohyeon-dong in Seongnam, Gyeonggi Province, Seogyo-dong in Mapo-gu, Seoul, Jongno-dong in Jongno-gu, Seoul, Sinchon-dong in Seodaemun-gu, Seoul, and Yeoksam-dong in Gangnam-gu, Seoul have emerged as K-play spaces. This place is rapidly growing, with consumption growth soaring by more than 1,000%.
Surprisingly, the United States (23 percent) is the most active country in the play experience. China (18 percent) followed by Japan (13 percent). There is a clear preference for a conceptual play space, not just entertainment. The most impressive thing is the revival of the ‘PC room’. Among the various K games, foreigners are especially enthusiastic about PC cafes. As of the first half of this year, PC room consumption increased by 81.5% compared to the same period last year. The “T1 Base Camp” in Seogyo-dong, Mapo-gu, where you can experience e-sports, is attracting attention with a whopping 1528.6% consumption growth rate.
Recently, Generation Z does not use PC rooms as simple game spaces. To them, this is nothing short of an open space. It is a lifestyle-type complex cultural space where you can enjoy high-end meals such as pork belly and mature sashimi and purchase goods and experience photo booths while using it as a “god-saeng” space for productive activities such as assignments, video editing, and studying.
The infrastructure is perfect, too. The environment, which combines fast Internet, high-spec equipment, and personal space, simultaneously meets Gen Z immersion and relaxation. In other words, it is evolving into a “daily playground” exclusively for Generation Z, which encompasses domestic and foreign countries.
This shift in perception is also demonstrated by data. The proportion of positive words for PC cafes jumped 20 percentage points from 39.4% in the first half of 2021 to 59.4% in the first half of 2025. This means that the PC room, a space where Koreans can experience their daily senses, is becoming a symbol of the evolved K-play culture.
[Shin Ik-su Travel Reporter]
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