KPop Demon Hunters Sparks Surge in British Bookings to South Korea

Last summer's soundtrack in Britain was Charli XCX's Brat. This year it belonged to KPop Demon Hunters, the Netflix title that pushed "Golden" to the top of the UK charts and had racked up 236 million video views by late August. Now travel companies say the show is doing something its producers may not have planned: sending British families toward South Korea.

The evidence comes mostly from search data and from the travel firms themselves. Google figures show a 43% global rise in searches for "South Korea" over the past year, and an 86% rise over the past quarter. Searches for "Seoul", the setting for both Squid Game and KPop Demon Hunters, are up 219% since the first season of Squid Game launched four years ago. Since the animated hit arrived in the UK last month, searches for "South Korea holidays" have jumped 40%.

Tour sellers are reporting the same pull. Luxury provider Destination2 says it has seen unprecedented demand for the country. Wayfairer Travel reports a 17% increase in requests for tailor-made South Korea trips this year compared with 2024. Betty Bouchier-Hobin, a travel expert at Destination2, said parents have always sought cultural experiences for their children, but that K-pop's explosion through Netflix has taken that to another level. She described a massive influx of requests in recent weeks, with families who might once have booked closer destinations now choosing long-haul trips because of their children's viral obsessions.

The show is the latest chapter in what is known as Hallyu, the Korean Wave, the soft-power influence of a country of 51 million people. London's V&A has staged an exhibition on it, covering Squid Game, the film Parasite, the group BTS, and Korean skincare and food trends. Korea's tourism numbers were already climbing: the Korea Tourism Organization says the country welcomed more than 12 million international visitors in 2023, 35% more than in 2019. A 2022 study in the Journal of Travel Research also recorded a spike in journeys to places featured in major Korean shows, with visitors' social media posts drawing in more tourists.

Fans typically head for the headquarters of entertainment companies such as SM, YG and HYBE; locations from K-dramas and music videos, including Gyeongbokgung Palace, Bukchon Hanok Village and Gamcheon Cultural Village; and districts such as Hongdae and Gangnam. Travel agent Lorena Basualdo says everyday scenes, such as Seoul's Ikseon-dong alleyways and Busan's seaside cafés, have become must-visit stops in their own right, taking travellers beyond standard sightseeing and boosting both urban and regional tourism.

Lucinda Faucheux, co-founder of Travel Support Circle, says the booking pattern differs from other comparable destinations. A younger, experience-driven group, she said, is booking themed tours of filming locations, concert venues and pop culture landmarks rather than traditional sightseeing, which has lifted package bookings. Operators are responding with itineraries that include behind-the-scenes access, live shows and walking tours retracing on-screen characters' steps. Andrea Platania of Transfeero advises visitors to book K-pop and cultural tours early, since demand can surge after media releases, and to look beyond Seoul to provinces featured in dramas, where crowds are thinner.

There is an industry angle too. James Austin, director at TV and film travel company Access Bookings, points to Korea's world-class studios, varied photogenic locations and maturing production infrastructure, plus partnerships with Korean studios and film commissions that make UK shoots and co-productions cost-effective. Thailand has long been Asia's go-to filming hub, lately boosted by The White Lotus, but Austin argues Korea is primed to become the next must-film destination.

What remains to be seen is whether the demand outlasts the show's summer peak, and how Korea's filming infrastructure develops if film tourism keeps growing.