9,296 medical tourists visited in Daejeon in 2019, which was an 18.7% increase from the previous year. That is, 1,456 more foreigners came to Daejeon seeking health care and related services last year compared to 7,831 in 2018, and this was an average annual growth rate of 49.3%.

According to a report on the 2019 Performance of Attracting Foreign Patients released by the Korea Health Industry Development Institute (KHIDI), medical services in Korea were used by foreigners more than a million times, despite the Korea-Japan trade dispute and other extrinsic factors in 2019, with the actual number of foreign patients recorded at around 500,000, which was more than 30% increase from 2018. This was thought to have resulted from the efforts to diversify the market by shifting the attention to the New Northern and New Southern countries.

By nationality, the largest number of foreign patients was from China, followed by Japan, the United States, Russia, Mongolia, and Vietnam. The most sought-after medical service was internal medicine, followed by plastic surgery, dermatology, health screening, obstetrics and gynecology, and orthopedic surgery. Of particular note, 50% of critical patients were cancer patients aged 50 and older from Russia and Central Asia such as Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan.

DIME shared its plans to continue on the success experienced last year stating, "In order to turn the COVID-19 pandemic into an opportunity, we will strengthen our cooperation with medical institutions and agencies in the region, discover new projects and programs, and pursue joint marketing campaigns. Meanwhile, we will improve the services to better accommodate foreign patients and promote medical tourism so that Daejeon can establish itself as a ‘wellness city.’"
Also, the organization plans to provide information via its website regarding the procedure for entering Korea and quarantine guidelines for visitors during the COVID-19 pandemic as a way to promote "safe medical tourism" and to hold the 2020 Online Korea Tourism Exposition to continue networking with overseas buyers.