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Chinese tourists to Korea outnumber Japanese for first time

Chung Joo-won

The Korea Herald

Publication Date : 21-03-2013

 

The number of Chinese travellers to Korea exceeded Japanese travelers for the first time in February, the Korea Tourism Organisation said Wednesday.

KTO data revealed that about 219,400 Chinese tourists flew to Korea in February, a steep 61 per cent increase compared to 132,900 in February 2012. This indicates that three out of every 10 foreign tourists to Korea are Chinese, the KTO said.

The data showed that the number of Japanese tourists who entered the country by flight between January and February fell by about 20 per cent from a year before, apparently due to the depreciating yen.

Analysts expect that the shift will help retail businesses that have been popular among Chinese, such as department stores, duty free shops, cosmetics vendors and large supermarket chains.

 

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