(image: KobizMedia/ Korea Bizwire)
SEOUL, May 23 (Korea Bizwire) — The number of foreign tourists to South Korea fell 27 percent in April from a year earlier as demand from China fell dramatically, the country’s tourism agency said Monday.
Last month, a total of 1.07 million foreigners visited the country. Chinese travelers plunged 67 percent year-over-year to 227,811, according to data from the Korea Tourism Organization.
China banned the sale of travel packages to South Korea from March 15 in retaliation against the deployment of the Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) system here. Beijing has opposed the THAAD deployment, arguing it could be used to spy on its military.
China’s travel ban is widely expected to weigh on domestic airlines, travel agencies and hotels for the time being as the THAAD installation is already in the final stages.
(Yonhap)
