Foreign tourist arrivals soar 16% on-year in 2014: tourism agency

The number of foreign tourist arrivals in South Korea has surpassed 14 million for the first time this year, helped by a sharp rise in Chinese travelers, the country's state-run tourism agency reported on Monday.

The figure represents a 16 percent increase from a year ago, the highest growth rate in a decade, according to the Korea Tourism Organization (KTO).

By nationality, Chinese accounted for 40.8 percent or 5.71 million of the total foreign arrivals in the Jan. 1-Dec. 17 period, followed by Japanese (15.1 percent or 2.11 million) and Americans (5.1 percent or 720,000). Chinese arrivals jumped 40.9 percent from the same period of last year.

If the current upward trend continues, the nation's tourism revenue is expected to reach US$17.6 billion this year, up 21.4 percent or $3.1 billion from $14.5 billion tallied last year, the report said.

Park Sae-jin swatchsjp@ajunews.com

Foreign tourist arrivals soar 16% on-year in 2014: tourism agency

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