No. of foreign visitors up 26 pct in Sept.

The number of foreign tourists in South Korea jumped 26.3 percent on-year in September partly on lower air fares following the Chuseok holiday in the middle of the month, official data showed Monday.

A total of 1.52 million foreigners traveled here during the month, up 26.3 percent from 1.2 million recorded a year earlier and a 22.3 percent rise from 1.24 million in September 2014, according to the Korea Tourism Organization (KTO).

By nationality, the number of Chinese visitors rose 22.8 percent on-year to 726,266.

KTO officials said the rise seems to be attributable to relatively low air fares after the peak season for Chuseok, one of the biggest annual celebrations here equivalent to Thanksgiving in the United States, and a special holiday in some Chinese regions during the G-20 summit in Hangzhou. Chuseok fell on Sept. 15 this year.

There were more Japanese tourists as well.

The number increased 32.7 percent to 208,759 last month, compared with a year earlier.

“It appears due to an increase in the number of individual tourists especially young women,” a KTO official said.

The number of South Koreans traveling abroad also climbed 26 percent on-year to 1.9 million. (Yonhap)