Hotels and tourism and distribution firms reported that sales during the World Cup fell far short of their expectations, while firms in the digital house appliance, alcoholic beverage, refreshment, and clothes business said they have been enjoyed windfall sales.

Firms leasing gigantic electronic-TV screens, manufacturing red T-shirts carrying the Red Devils' logo, and producing bottled water and soft drinks have all enjoyed skyrocketing sales.

Beer makers said their sales soared during this month by about 40 to 50 percent from last year. They claimed that the Korean team's remarkable success at the games has apparently boosted their beer sales.

Digital electronics-equipment makers also saw their sales far exceed their projections. Industry sources said that sales of digital TV sets in the country spiraled up to about 50,000 units in May, followed by an estimated 60,000 units by the end of June, from only about 28,000 sets in April.

Consumption of bottled water and refreshments have also skyrocketed as millions of Korean took to the streets in the hot weather to cheer on the Korean national soccer team.

Hotels and tour companies are complaining that their sales during the global event lagged far behind their target. Korea's top-notch hotels said their room occupancy ratio during June reached only 70 percent, down by about 10 percent over the average in the preceding years.

Tour companies said that the number of tourists who visited Korea during the World Cup accounted for only 20 to 30 percent of the annual average amount, while the number of Koreans traveling overseas also dropped to 60 percent of the yearly average. (Park Soon-wook, swpark@chosun.com )