According to data, as the won’s ascent has sent more travelers abroad, South Korea may record the largest tourism shortfall in three years in 2013. According to data by the
central bank and the Korea Culture and Tourism Institute, the country’s tourism shortfall reached US$256 million in November, extending its deficit run for the 18th straight month. The additional deficit in the first 11 months of this year amounted to $3.26 billion, up 26.3 percent from a year earlier, the data showed.
Given that spending on overseas travel tends to increase in December, this year’s deficit may become the biggest since 2010 when the tourism deficit reached $3.97 billion.
According to the Bank of Korea (BOK), in the third quarter, the number of outbound travelers jumped 14.7 percent on quarter to 4.02 million as the local currency gained 6.9 percent to the greenback compared with three months earlier. Korea’s travel account logged a shortfall of $6.66 billion in the January-November period, compared with a shortfall of $6.27 billion the prior year.
The travel account is part of the service account, which tracks outlays by South Koreans on overseas trips and studies.
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