Korea's tourism balance hits record surplus since pandemic: data
Korea's tourism balance hit a record surplus since the COVID-19 pandemic period, thanks to the popularity of the country's pop culture, industry data showed Sunday. The country's travel account was in the black by $596.6 million in June, marking a dramatic turnaround from the same month a year earlier when the deficit stood at $846.8 million, according to the data from the Korea Tourism…
Korea's tourism sector has reached a record surplus since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, according to data released by the Korea Tourism Organization. The country's travel balance was $596.6 million in surplus in June, marking a significant turnaround from the $846.8 million deficit recorded in the same month last year. This marks the second highest surplus since October 2008, when the tourism sector recorded a surplus of $661.5 million.
The shift from continuous red to black in tourism balance occurred in March of this year, after 72 consecutive months of deficits. The surge in revenue is attributed to South Korea's rising international image, bolstered by the global popularity of Korean pop culture, cuisine, and other aspects of Korean culture. Each foreign tourist spent an average of $1,397 during their visit, contributing to a total revenue of $2.78 billion.
Brief written by urgent.news from The Korea Times's own syndicated text. Machine-written — it may contain errors, so check the original before relying on it.
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