Visa fee exemption extended for Chinese tourists

The temporary visa fee exemption for Chinese tourists will be further extended, officials said Sunday.

The Justice Ministry said it would offer the visa fee waiver for Chinese tourists until the end of this year.

As part of efforts to revive the Middle East respiratory syndrome-hit tourism industry, the ministry had temporarily exempted the visa fee waiver for Chinese visitors from July to September, and extended the measure to October.

In order to get a visa, Chinese visitors usually pay $15.

“While the number of tourists to Seoul is rebounding after the MERS crisis, it has been decided to further extend the fee waiver as many still expressed the necessity for the support,” the ministry said.

The number of Chinese visitors, which recorded about 250,000 in May, plummeted to around 50,000 in June and July. While the number rose to over 170,000 in September, it is still 30 to 50 percent lower than a year earlier, officials added.

(rene@heraldcorp.com)