By Baek Byung-yeul A viral video of a Japanese calligraphy teacher’s reunion with her famous student offered an interesting glimpse at one of South Korea’s fastest-growing tourism trends.
In a YouTube video uploaded on June 28, Minami, a Japanese member of the rising K-pop girl group Rescene, visited her hometown in Chiba and reunited with her former calligraphy teacher.
During their conversation, the teacher revealed that she had flown back to Japan that day after undergoing a cosmetic procedure near Sinnonhyeon Station in southern Seoul, drawing laughter from the group.
Although the conversation was lighthearted, it showed one of the reasons why many foreign tourists choose to visit South Korea.
For years, K-beauty was largely synonymous with cosmetics.
Tourists would fill their suitcases with sheet masks, skincare products and make-up before heading home.
Today, however, an increasing number of visitors are booking appointments at dermatology clinics, receiving scalp treatments, consulting personal colour experts, visiting pharmacies and taking part in wellness programmes that promise healthier lifestyles as well as improvements in appearance.
This growing demand shows the rise of wellness tourism, a type of travel that focuses on improving both physical and mental health.
What social media did to boost wellness tourism In South Korea, this trend is unique because it mixes medical technology, beauty services and lifestyle experiences into special travel packages that are hard to find in other countries.
Industry officials say social media has helped speed growth in wellness tourism.
Thanks to beauty content on YouTube, Instagram and TikTok, young people around the world have become familiar with Korean skincare, clinics and pharmacy products.
Many tourists now plan their trips carefully to visit these clinics as well as traditional sightseeing.
“We have seen a noticeable increase in foreign patients over the past few years, in addition to our domestic customers,” says a dermatologist operating a clinic in southern Seoul.
“Many Japanese visitors come for laser lifting procedures, wrinkle treatments and pigmentation removal.
Demand has increased enough that we are strengthening our social media marketing specifically targeting Japanese tourists.” The shift is becoming increasingly visible in government data.
According to the Korea Tourism Organisation (KTO), foreign visitors spent more than 2 trillion won (US$1.3 billion) using credit cards in May, marking the first time monthly spending exceeded the 2 trillion won mark.
The figure was a 67.1 per cent increase from the same month last year and underscored the rapid recovery of South Korea’s inbound tourism market.
Beauty and wellness-related businesses recorded some of the strongest growth.
The allure of South Korea’s pharmacies The changing travel pattern has also transformed pharmacies into one of South Korea’s newest shopping destinations for foreign visitors.
Stores like Ready Young Pharmacy have rapidly expanded in tourist districts such as....
