South Korea to lose up to $90 billion with Chinese tourists changing destinations for travelling

Almaty. September 20. Silkroadnews – South Korea will lose up to $90 billion with Chinese tourists changing their travelling routes, the South China Morning Post reported.
“Package tours to the country remain suspended amid the fallout from South Korea’s decision to deploy a US missile defense system, with Chinese tourists looking to Thailand, Singapore and Japan instead. South Korea is likely to miss out on a share of the estimated 590 billion yuan (US$90 billion) that Chinese tourists will spend both overseas and at home during the eight-day national day holiday period,” the report said.
It is explained that the decision taken by South Korea earlier this year to deploy the US anti-missile defense system THAAD to counter North Korean threats was fiercely objected by China, which considered such move as a threat to its security.
Data by China’s National Tourism Administration, in March Beijing banned the sale of package tours to South Korea, resulting in the number of Chinese tourists dropping 20.9% to 7.76 million during the period from January to July. However, individual tours to South Korea are still allowed for Chinese nationals.
According to the forecasts of the Chinese online travel service Ctrip, around 70% fall is expected in the number of Chinese tourists visiting South Korea during the national day holiday, one of the peak travel times for the Chinese.
“It expects more than 6 million Chinese will go abroad in the holiday period, which has long been dubbed “Golden Week” because of the massive business potential the holiday brings,” the publication reads.
In its turn, the China Tourism Academy, which is a top analytical center in the tourism sector, suggests that 710 million trips will be made by the Chinese nationals both overseas and domestically during the Golden Week.