Seven out of 10 Koreans used leisure facilities last year, with hot spring and spa visits and swimming pool usage rising while golf course usage fell. Some say the era of fierce competition to book golf tee times is now a thing of the past.
According to data from the National Statistical Office’s Korean Statistical Information Service (KOSIS) and the Social Survey released Wednesday, the leisure facility usage rate reached 73.5% last year, up 4.4 percentage points from the 69.1% recorded in the survey two years earlier. The figure represents the share of the population aged 13 and older who used a leisure facility at least once in the past year.
The leisure facility usage rate dipped slightly from 75.3% in 2017 to 73.4% in 2019, then plunged to 43.5% in 2021 during the COVID-19 pandemic. It recovered to 69.1% in 2023 and crossed the 70% threshold again last year, returning to pre-pandemic levels.
By category, tourist attractions such as historic sites and national parks posted the highest usage rate at 76.4% among eight categories where multiple responses were allowed. The rate rose 2.8 percentage points from two years earlier, driven by an increase in domestic travel.
Hot spring and spa usage climbed to 28.1%, up 5.6 percentage points from 22.5% in 2023. Swimming pool and water park usage rose to 25.3%, up 2.5 percentage points from 22.8%. Beach usage also edged up 1.6 percentage points to 31.6%.
Golf course usage, however, declined. The usage rate for golf courses, including indoor golf facilities, fell to 10.5% last year, down 1.5 percentage points from 12.0% in 2023. Golf course usage had risen from 6.6% in 2019 through the pandemic period to 10.2% in 2021 and 12.0% in 2023 before turning downward last year.
The number of golf course visitors nationwide has also declined for three consecutive years. According to the Korea Golf Course Business Association, approximately 46.41 million visitors used 524 golf courses across the country from January to December last year. Visitor numbers had peaked at 50.58 million in 2022 before falling to 47.72 million in 2023 and 47.41 million in 2024. Last year saw a decline of nearly one million visitors compared to the previous year.
Rising costs appear to have played a significant role in the decline. Golf courses that enjoyed a boom during the pandemic raised green fees, cart fees and caddie fees across the board. Even after the pandemic ended, a single round of golf now costs more than 300,000 won ($220), a price structure that has become entrenched and increased the financial burden on players, analysts said.
Meanwhile, women posted a higher overall leisure facility usage rate than men. However, the golf course usage rate among men stood at 14.8%, more than double the 6.5% recorded among women.