Travelers pass a bureau de change in the shopping street of Myeong-dong in Seoul on Thursday. /News 1
Chinese tourists prefer Dongdaemun Market, while Japanese visitors like Namdaemun Market, a recent survey by the Korea Chamber of Commerce and Industry of 300 Chinese and Japanese tourists suggests.
Such surveys often establish quite distinct preferences between the two biggest groups of foreign tourists in Korea. Kim Kyung-jong at the KCCI said, "This is due to subtle differences in the shopping lists between the two groups and the styles they prefer".
Chinese tourists typically shop for cosmetics (87 percent), clothes (61 percent) and herbal ingredients for traditional remedies (39 percent), while Japanese visitors prefer clothes (61 percent), cosmetics (53 percent) and dried seaweed or other seafood products (52 percent).
Myeong-dong in central Seoul is one shopping destination favored by both Chinese and Japanese tourists.
Chinese visitors like to shop in duty free shops (77 percent), while the more sophisticated Japanese tourists favor small outlets focusing on specific products (60 percent).