About 83,000 Japanese are expected to visit South Korea during the Golden Week holiday, and the local hospitality scene and retailers are ready to welcome them, the state tourism agency here said Wednesday.

The number of Japanese expected to visit South Korea during Golden Week, a combination of public holidays that lasts from April 25 to May 6, is up 3.1 percent from a year earlier, the Korea Tourism Organization said.

The number of Japanese travelers grew 2.5 percent on-year in March, the first such rise in three years, it said.

The KTO said it will hold a series of events to welcome the incoming visitors at Gimpo International Airport in western Seoul between Friday and Saturday. 

It will provide photo services for Japanese tourists with characters from the popular mobile application "Line Friends" as well as Korean tourism mascots, and calligraphers will write their names in Korean characters.

The KTO said it will offer 24-hour phone translation service for individual Japanese travelers and provide information on regional tours during the period. (Yonhap)