Tourism in South Korea down 90.4% in February
Only 65,582 tourists visited South Korea in February due to ongoing Covid-19 countermeasures.
South Korea.- Tourism in South Korea was down 90.4 per cent year-on-year in February, with 65,582 visitors reported.
Visitors from the country’s two largest source markets, China and Japan, were down by 88.5 per cent and 99.2 per cent respectively.
Only 11,982 Chinese tourists arrived in South Korea in February and 1,719 from Japan.
The Korea Tourism Organization (KTO) has said it sees no sign of an immediate recovery as entry restrictions continue.
During the first two months of 2021 combined, tourist arrivals to South Korea were down 93.7 per cent from 1,957,920 in 2020 to 123,979.
South Korean casinos face huge losses
South Korea’s 16 foreigner-only casinos have been deeply affected by the lack of tourists.
Paradise Co. announced February sales of KRW17.38bn (US$15.5m), a 36.5 per cent drop compared to January. Revenue for the first three months of 2021 combined was down 55.9 per cent year-on-year to KRW68.02bn (US$60m).
Grand Korea Leisure reported a loss of KRW64.33bn (US$57.6m) for 2020. For February 2021, casino sales were down by 98.8 per cent year-on-year to KRW507m (US$448,000).
The state-run casino operator Kangwon Land reported an adjusted loss of KRW275.88bn (US$249.7m) for 2020.
