Decline in Japanese tourists to continue after nuke test

The decrease in number of Japanese tourists visiting South Korea is expected to continue on the back of North Korea‘s latest nuclear test, clouding the outlook of the nation‘s tourism industry, according to Korea Tourism Organization Wednesday.

The number of Japanese tourists to Korea have shown a tendency to fall upon North Korea-bound provocation in the past.

According to data compiled by the KTO, the number of Japanese visitors decreased by 5.4 percent on-year to reach 165,748 in April this year, when provocations by North Korea were highly expected ahead of the communist regime’s army foundation anniversary. It was also around the time US Carl Vinson Strike Group arrived in South Korea and conducted joint military exercises in a show of force. 

The figure in Sept 2016 had also decreased by 7.4 percent month-on-month to mark 208,759 after North Korea had conducted the fifth nuclear test.

When North Korea held and fourth nuclear test in January 2016, the number of Japanese tourists fell by 2 percent on-year to reach 136,884. After the third nuclear test in February 2013, the figure also dropped by 26.2 percent on-year, the tourism organization’s data showed.

“The downward trend, which started earlier in April, is likely to continue down the road on the back of the latest nuclear test,” a KTO’s spokesperson said.

During the first three months this year, the number of Japanese tourists increased, but the figure started to decline since April this year. The number fell by 10.8 percent on-year in May, 6.9 percent in June and 8.4 percent in July.

Meanwhile, the number of Chinese tourists visiting Korea as of July also posted a 46.5 percent drop on-year to reach 2.53 million, due to China‘s alleged retaliatory travel bans that started in March this year.

If geopolitical tensions surrounding the Korean Peninsula persist, the total number of foreign visitors in 2017 might plunge by 27.2 percent from 17.24 million people in the last year, the KTO said in a report released the last month.

By Shim Woo-hyun (ws@heraldcorp.com)