Koreans Spend Much More Money in Japan Than Vice Versa

Streets are deserted on Aug. 13 in Japan's famous hot spring town of Yufuin in Kyushu, which used to be a favorite with Korean travelers. /Yonhap

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Koreans spent three times more money in Japan than Japanese in Korea over the past four years.

According to the Korea Tourism Organization on Sunday, 23.77 million Korean visitors to Japan spent a total of W18.82 trillion there from 2015 to 2018 (US$1=W1,197). By contrast, some 9.4 million Japanese visitors spent W6.45 trillion here during the same period.

The number of Korean visitors to Japan was 2.5 times the number of Japanese visitors to Korea, and the amount of money they spent was 2.9 times higher.

Per head, the average Korean visitor spent W791,520 in Japan, W105,530 more than the amount each Japanese visitor spent here (W685,990).  

But tourism both ways is on the rise despite icy relations between the two governments. Korean visitors to Japan increased 88.4 percent from 4 million in 2015 to 7.54 million in 2018, while Japanese to Korea increased 60.4 percent from 1.84 million to 2.95 million.

Only recently has the number of Koreans visiting Japan plunged as a result of a boycott. The Japan National Tourism Organization said in a preliminary report that visitor numbers from Korea in August were down 40 percent on-year at 308,700.

According to the Korea Customs Service, the number of transactions worth over US$600 by Korean visitors to Japan plunged 60 percent in the same period to 11,249.