Tourism Deficit Hits New High as More Koreans Travel Abroad

Published on 2018/03/11 | Source

Koreans spent US$2.77 billion on overseas travel in January, more than the country's current account surplus for the month of $2.68 billion, the Bank of Korea said on Tuesday.

This led to a record travel deficit of $2.16 billion as domestic tourism has reeled from China's unofficial boycott of Korean products, which sent Chinese tourists to the country plunging.

Only 305,000 Chinese visited Korea in January, down 46 percent compared to a year ago.

The money Korean tourists spent overseas rose 40 percent on-year to $2.77 billion as a record 2.87 million left the country for holidays.

But foreign tourists spent $1.09 billion in Korea, down 11 percent on-year.�