The South Korean government said on Thursday that it will make an all-out effort to attract tourists from Taiwan and Vietnam to diversify its tourism industry that has been hit hard this year due to a steep fall in the number of Chinese visitors and increased geopolitical tension in the Korean peninsula as a result of North Korea’s military provocations.

Such plan was discussed at a meeting held by the Korea Tourism Organization (KTO) on Wednesday at its headquarters in Wonju, Gangwon Province. Marketing measures were discussed to attract more inbound travelers in the second half of this year and to overcome multiple industry challenges. KTO representatives from 32 overseas offices and 10 local offices were present.

According to the KTO, the number of Chinese travelers coming to the country began to fall in March when the Chinese government ordered its travel agencies to ban group tours to Korea in retaliation for Seoul’s deployment of U.S.’ Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) antimissile system. The number of Chinese visitors fell sharply by 62.4 percent on-year in the March-July period.

North Korea’s recent military provocations have also led to a drop in the number of Japanese travelers to Korea, raising concerns over a general slump in the country’s tourism industry.

The KTO projected that the number of foreigners visiting Korea will reach 12.56 million this year, down 27 percent or 4.68 million from a year ago.

In contrast, the number of outbound travelers in the first seven months of this year was up 18 percent from the same period a year ago. The figure is expected to reach over 26.61 million this year, up 4.32 million from last year.

Chung Chang-soo, president of KTO, said that it is most likely that the number of outbound nationals will be more than double the number of foreigners visiting the country, leading to an abnormal trend in 10 years as was in 2007 just before the outbreak of the global financial crisis.

In 2007, the difference in the number of outbound and inbound travelers was 6.9 million, Chung said, but this year, the gap is expected to more than double to 14 million. Chung added that it is worrisome as the country’s tourism deficit is projected to reach a record high of $15 billion this year, up from $10.8 billion in 2007.

By Shin Ik-su

[ⓒ Pulse by Maeil Business News Korea & mk.co.kr, All rights reserved]