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…
South Korea's tourism sector recorded its highest surplus since the COVID-19 pandemic began, according to data released by the Korea Tourism Organization on Sunday. The country's travel account earned a surplus of $596.6 million in June, a significant improvement from the $846.8 million deficit in the same month a year earlier. This marks the second highest surplus since October 2008, when the tourism sector generated a surplus of $661.5 million.
For the first time in 72 months, the tourism balance swung to the black in March of this year and has remained positive since then. In June, total revenue from the tourism sector reached $2.78 billion, with each foreign tourist spending an average of $1,397 per person. This surge in tourism revenue is attributed to South Korea's international image reaching an all-time high in various fields, including K-pop, popular culture, and cuisine, according to professor Kim.
Written by urgent.news from The Korea Times's reporting — not their text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.
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