Korea Tourism Businesses Rise 3.5% in Q3 2025 as Casino Firms Drop 20%

2 articles · Updated · asiae.co.kr · Aug 10

25,758 tourism businesses were operating in Korea in Q3 2025, up 3.5% from a year earlier, while employment rose 2.8% to 477,410, the Korea Culture and Tourism Institute said.
Restaurants and pubs led business growth at 6.7%, followed by the international conference sector at 6.6%, showing the recovery was strongest in food service and MICE-related activity.
Employment gains diverged from company counts in several sectors: conference jobs rose 7.6%, casino employment climbed 6.2% despite a 20.0% drop in casino firms, and tourism transportation jobs increased 3.4% while business growth was just 0.1%.
Accommodation showed the opposite pattern, with business numbers up 4.2% but employment rising only 1.6%, while travel agencies and support services posted only 1.2% business growth.
Regular employees increased 3.8% versus just 0.4% for temporary and daily workers, underscoring an uneven tourism recovery by sector and job type.