Major travel agencies suffer massive losses from pandemic in Q3

SEOUL, Nov. 4 (Yonhap) -- South Korea's leading travel agencies saw massive on-year losses in the third quarter this year, as the new coronavirus pandemic hampered the companies' overseas tour businesses, data showed Wednesday.

The country's top tour agency Hana Tour Co. logged 10.07 billion won in sales in July-September, down 94.5 percent from a year ago on a consolidated basis, according to a corporate filing. Operating loss stood at 30.24 billion won, skyrocketing from 2.77 billion won the previous year.

The company said a steep fall in international travel hurt its quarterly earnings.

Third-quarter sales of smaller rival Mode Tour also tumbled 95.8 percent on-year to 2.94 billion won. Operating loss widened to 7.45 billion won, up from 2.2 billion won the previous year.

Travel businesses have been among the industries that have been hit the hardest by the COVID-19 pandemic.

The embattled travel companies have been demanding that authorities ease the mandatory 14-day self-isolation policy for inbound travelers, but the government remains cautious due to concerns of international virus transmissions.

jwc@yna.co.kr
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