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The number of foreign tourists to Korea has dropped in June for the first time in 14 months. A number of reasons are behind the decline, including the beef protests and high oil prices.
According to an analysis of data from the Korea Immigration Service by the Korea Culture and Tourism Institute released on Monday, 521,000 foreigners entered the country in June, down 0.45 percent year-on-year. It's the first drop since a decline of 1.5 percent in April last year.
Through May this year, the weak Korean won helped maintain consistent growth in foreign visitors of 7.2 percent (in April) to 12.9 percent (in February), for overall growth of 8.4 percent in the first half compared to last year.
The sudden fall is attributed to a combination of reasons, including oil prices, the earthquake in Sichuan, China, and also the psychological effects of the anti-U.S. beef protests in Korea.
Culture, Sports and Tourism Minister Yu In-chon told reporters Monday that during ministerial talks with Japan last month he was asked many times if it was okay to visit Korea amidst the wave of protests. Yu said the protracted demonstrations are seen to have considerably affected the fewer number of tourists in June.
But with fewer Koreans going abroad due to burdensome fuel costs and the poor exchange rate, the country's tourism account has improved from last year. The number of Koreans leaving the country fell for two months, down 0.68 percent in May and 5.75 percent in June, for overall growth of 1.5 percent in the first half, compared to growth of 19.1 percent in last year's first half. Travel spending also fell by 6.1 percent. And with foreign visitors spending 39.3 percent more this year, the first half travel deficit fell from US$4.9 billion to $3.35 billion.
(englishnews@chosun.com )
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