Sunday January 11, 06:45 AM
Weak won attracts tourists, keeps Koreans at home: government data
SEOUL (AFP) - South Korea's travel account deficit drastically narrowed last year as the weaker won attracted more foreign tourists while preventing many Koreans from travelling abroad, according to the latest government data.
The country's travel account shortfall fell to less than one third from 10.1 billion dollars in 2007 to 3.1 billion dollars in 2008, according to figures released by the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism.
Foreign tourists spent 9.3 billion dollars here in 2008, up 61.3 percent from the previous year, as South Koreans' spending on overseas travel slumped 22 percent to 12.4 billion dollars.
Per-capita spending here by foreign tourists jumped to 1,740 dollars last year, up from an average 907 dollars over the three previous years.
The won weakened to an average 1,373.84 to the dollar in December last year from 930.24 won a year earlier.
A total of 6.89 million foreigners visited South Korea last year, up 6.9 percent from 2007.
But the number of Koreans traveling overseas fell 13 percent to 12 million, the first decrease since 2003.
Japan topped the list with 2.38 million tourists visiting here last year, followed by China (1.17 million) and the US (610,000).
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