SEOUL: Chinese tourist numbers to South Korea plunged by two-thirds in April after Beijing banned tour groups over Seoul’s deployment of a US missile defense system, official statistics showed. Beijing imposed a boycott from March 15 on Chinese tour groups visiting the South in a spat over the US Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) system. Total visitor numbers were down 27.2 percent from last year to 1.07 million, KTO said, blaming a “huge decline in Chinese visitors due to China’s ban on tours to South Korea”. The tumbling figures have taken a heavy toll on duty-free shops in South Korea. South Korea has been struggling to fill the gap with promotional campaigns to attract more visitors from other countries, mainly from Japan and those in Southeast Asia.

Source: Manila Times May 23, 2017 04:41 UTC