A file photo shows foreign tourists in a popular shopping district in central Seoul.[Yonhap News Photo]
This year's deficit in South Korea's tourism industry will hit an all time high of about 15 billion US dollars due to a steady decrease in the arrival of Chinese and Japanese tourists for geopolitical reasons, according to a government-invested body.
The gloomy forecast came from the Korea Tourism Organization (KTO) during its video conference that came as Seoul and Beijing marked the 25th anniversary of diplomatic normalization.
Trade retaliation and a travel ban imposed by Beijing in March in retaliation for the deployment of a US missile shield in South Korea have hurt South Korea's economic and other activities including preparations for its first Winter Olympics in the eastern ski resort of Pyeongchang in February next year.
The tourism industry was hit hard, and KTO President Chung Chang-soo predicted that South Korea's tourism deficit would widen to a record 15 billion US dollars this year if the current trend continues.
The organization said the number of outbound travelers from South Korea this year would exceed 26 million, up 4.3 million from a year ago, while the total number of foreign tourists visiting South Korea is expected to fall 27 percent on-year to 12.56 million.
reporter
Lim Chang-won
cwlim34@ajunews.com
