Tourism deficit more than doubles on-year in August in Seoul

South Korea's tourism deficit rose more than two-fold in August from a year ago due to decreased spending by foreign tourists in the country, extending its losing streak to a 15th month since June last year, data showed Monday. According to the data by the Korea Culture & Tourism Institute, the country's tourism deficit stood at US$512.4 million, more than two times compared with $234.9 million a year ago. The fall in South Korea's tourism deficit was due to decreased expenditure by foreign travelers to the country. In the first eight months, foreign tourists arrivals were up 8.6 percent to 8.09 million from a year earlier, but their spending dropped 7 percent to $8.91 billion. In particular, the average amount of money spent by tourists per capita shrank to $782 in August, falling below the $1,000 mark for the first time since September 2010. Between January and August, the cumulative tourism deficit reached $2.75 billion, up 3.7-fold from $742.3 million in the cited period last year. In contrast, South Korean tourists spent $11.67 billion in foreign countries during the same period, up 12.8 percent from the previous year.