Seoul's charm ranks 5th globally, surpassing Tokyo

Seoul has secured the fifth position globally in the 2026 Global Tourism City Attractiveness Assessment, outranking major cities like Tokyo, London, Rome, and Bangkok. This marks the second consecutive year Seoul has achieved a top-five ranking.

The assessment, released by travel and tourism research institute Yonhap Research, evaluated 261 cities worldwide. The 'Yonhap Attractiveness Index' was developed in collaboration with Purdue University's CHRIBA Research Institute and Kyung Hee University's H&T Analytics Center. It analyzed social media data in 14 languages collected from June 2025 to May 2026.

The index is based on two key factors: 'awareness,' which measures how widely a city is known, and 'attractiveness,' reflecting the proportion of positive tourist evaluations. While New York, Paris, London, Rome, and Bangkok led in awareness, Seoul's high attractiveness score propelled it to fifth place overall.

Notably, Asian cities showed a strong presence in the attractiveness rankings, with Osaka, Kyoto, and Seoul appearing in the top five alongside New York and Paris. This indicates a growing appeal of Asian destinations among global travelers.