S. Korea's tourism income hits 17-year low in Q2 due to coronavirus pandemic

SEOUL, Sept. 7 (Yonhap) -- South Korea's tourism income hit a 17-year low in the second quarter of this year due to the novel coronavirus pandemic, government data showed Monday.

For the April-June period, the country posted US$1.19 billion in tourism income, down 78.6 percent from $5.57 billion over the same period last year, according to data by the Korea Tourism Organization (KTO).

From three months earlier, it tumbled 65.5 percent from $3.46 billion.

It is the lowest quarterly amount since 2003, when South Korea's tourism income recorded $1.11 billion.

The sharp decline came as the COVID-19 pandemic has disrupted the global tourism industry, as most countries have closed their borders and imposed a mandatory 14-day quarantine on foreign arrivals.

The number of foreign visitors in the second quarter of 2020 reached 970,000, nosediving from 4.6 million tallied in the same period in 2019.

Meanwhile, South Korean tourists spent a 17-year low of $1.7 billion overseas in the second quarter, down 76.3 percent from a year earlier.

As a result, the deficit of the country's tourism account decreased to $510 million for the April-June period, down sharply from $1.64 billion tallied a year ago.

brk@yna.co.kr
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