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The Korea Times

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 Myeong-dong, Hongdae, Gangnam and Seongsu-dong. They carry over-the-counter medicines, functional skin care products and health supplements.
Unlike conventional pharmacies, these stores resemble health and beauty retailers where customers freely browse shelves but can also consult pharmacists about products that suit their needs.
“I had a skin treatment in southern Seoul in the morning before coming to Seongsu for lunch and shopping. I also stopped by a pharmacy to buy health supplements and skincare products,” says a Chinese tourist visiting a premium pharmacy in Seongsu-dong.
“Luxury goods are always attractive, but Korean medicine and health products are also known for their quality. Visiting these pharmacies has become one of the reasons I travel to Korea.”
Many of the products gaining popularity are not luxury goods but everyday items that Koreans have long bought without much attention. Acne medication, scar ointments, functional cosmetics and nutritional supplements are now widely recommended through social media as essential purchases when in South Korea.

The trend reflects how K-beauty itself has evolved. Instead of focusing solely on premium cosmetics brands, visitors are becoming interested in South Korean lifestyles and daily wellness routines, creating new opportunities for retailers. The growing popularity of beauty and wellness tourism is also no longer confined to Seoul.
The KTO data showed that spending on K-beauty and wellness by foreign visitors increased 38.4 per cent in the first quarter from a year earlier, while spending on medical tourism rose 33.2 per cent. Beauty-related treatments have become one of the biggest drivers of South Korea’s medical tourism industry.
The rapid increase also suggests that overseas visitors are spending more on experiences rather than simply purchasing products.
“The global tourism market recovered to around 103 per cent of its pre-pandemic level in 2025, while Korea’s inbound tourism reached 108 per cent,” said Kim Young-mi, head of the KTO’s Tourism AI Innovation Division, during a tourism data seminar held in May.
Kim said beauty and wellness tourism has emerged as one of the fastest growing sectors of South Korea’s inbound tourism industry. She added that the trend is no longer concentrated in Seoul, with destinations like Jeju and Busan attracting growing numbers of visitors seeking medical services and wellness experiences.
The findings suggest that beauty tourism is becoming an effective way to encourage travellers to explore more destinations outside the capital.
‘K-beauty is creating new possibilities’
The government is now working to keep up that momentum.
The South Korean Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism and the KTO launched the 2026 Korea Beauty Festival on June 24 to transform South Korea’s globally recognised beauty industry into a tourism platform.
Held at HiKR Ground in central Seoul, the festival lets foreign visitors experience various aspects of South Korean beauty culture, including make-up, hairstyling, scalp diagnosis, personal colour analysis and fashion consulting.
The event also connects visitors with nearly 800 beauty tourism products through partnerships with nine global online travel agencies, allowing travellers to book beauty experiences alongside accommodation and transport through September 30.
Officials hope the programme will encourage visitors to spend more time in South Korea while expanding beauty-related tourism.
“K-beauty is creating new possibilities,” Kang Jung-won, head of the ministry’s Tourism Policy Bureau, said during the festival’s opening ceremony.
“It has evolved beyond the beauty industry to become one of Korea’s representative cultural contents.”
Read the full story at The Korea Times


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Lifestyle

Travel & Leisure

Fashion & Beauty

Beauty and wellness tourism is booming in South Korea, with packages mixing medical technology, beauty services and lifestyle experiences


Beauty and wellness tourism is booming in South Korea, with packages mixing medical technology, beauty services and lifestyle experiences.


Why tourists are flocking to South Korea’s pharmacies and wellness services

.css-1c6uqr6{color:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-family:inherit;line-height:inherit;overflow-wrap:break-word;}Beauty and wellness tourism is booming in South Korea, with packages mixing medical technology, beauty services and lifestyle experiences

Beauty and wellness tourism is booming in South Korea, with packages mixing medical technology, beauty services and lifestyle experiences