Foreign Tourists Spend More in Korea, Medical Tourism On Rise

Published on 2011/12/31 | Source

Visitors from overseas are spending more money in Korea.
According to the Bank of Korea, consumption by foreign tourists surged in the third quarter, up 37 percent from the previous quarter, to reach 3.4 trillion won which is nearly three billion US dollars.
The amount accounted for zero.three percent of the nation's GDP in the third quarter, soaring from zero percent in the second quarter.
The central bank attributed the growth, to a rise in Chinese and Japanese visitors, whose spending has gone up consistently, in recent years.
Meanwhile, medical tourism is also becoming a new revenue industry.
The Korea Tourism Organization announced today that, over 80-thousand foreigners visited Korea for medical treatments last year, up nearly 40 percent from 2009.
Plastic surgery and dermatology were the most popular procedures for these visitors.