Yeonpyeong crisis takes toll on tourism

By Lee Hyo-sik

An increasing number of foreign tourists are canceling their trips to South Korea, following last week’s military skirmish between the two Koreas, officials from tour agencies said.

Due to safety concerns, groups of Japanese students who had initially planned to come here for a field trip have decided to go somewhere else.

According to the domestic travel industry Monday, one high school in Japan’s Kumamoto Prefecture recently decided to scrap a field trip planned on Dec. 2-6, following North Korea’s sudden artillery attack on Yeonpyeong Island and the continued military confrontation. Other schools have and will likely follow suit.

An executive at a local travel agency catering mostly to Japanese tourists said the Japanese government has issued a travel warning for those planning to visit Korea.

“Japanese parents have become extremely concerned about what is happening here and fear future provocations from North Korea. They do not want their children to be in danger. A growing number of Chinese are also increasingly wary of the safety situation here,” he said.

A spokeswoman for the Korea Tourism Organization (KTO) also echoed his view, saying Chinese and Japanese are canceling their visits. “Following the North’s attack, the number of Japanese and Chinese visitors dropped last week, compared to previous weeks. But those coming from Europe and North America remained largely unchanged.”

She then said if the Yeonpyeong situation returns to normal soon, it will not be difficult for the nation to achieve this year’s target of 8.5 million foreign visitors.

But hotels and other hospitality-related businesses have begun suffering from the fallout of the Yeonpyeong crisis.

One taxi driver catering to foreigners said he made one-third less last week, compared to the previous week, while a manager at a Seoul hotel said they have received several reservation cancelation calls from Japan.

“Our business has not yet been severely affected by the event. But if the military tension continues to persist, the number of guests will likely fall, resulting in lower profits” the manager said.

Concerts and other cultural events featuring non-Korean artists are being called off as they decide to alter their schedules due to the high tension.

For instance, French pianist Richard Clayderman had initially planned to hold a series of performances across the country, beginning from Dec.3. But it was pushed back to sometime in September next year.

Not only tourists, but also business people have become reluctant to visit Asia’s fourth largest economy, with many postponing their trips until the ongoing military situation comes to an end.

A drop in the number of inbound tourists and businessmen will have an unfavorable impact on airline firms, hotels and other hospitality-related businesses here amid growing concerns regarding the Korean economy in the wake of the continued debt crisis gripping the euro zone and other external negatives.

Additionally, the North’s provocation is having a negative impact on domestic businesses that highly rely on international trade. For instance, Sony, Honda Motors and other large Japanese businesses have decided not to send personnel to Korea for the time being until the ongoing military conflicts are resolved.

연평도 포격으로 인한 외국인 방문객 격감

지난주에 있었던 남북간의 군사 접전으로 인해 한국을 찾는 관광객의 수가 크게 줄고 있다.

본래 견학을 위해 한국을 찾으려 했던 일본 학생들은 안전상의 이유로 계획을 취소했으며 이에 따라 콘서트와 외국인이 참여하는 문화행사들도 함께 취소 되었다.

관광객뿐만 아니라 아시아에서 네번째 경제 대국인 한국을 찾는 사업가들 역시 방문을 꺼려하고 있으며 지속되고 있는 군사적 긴장상태가 끝나기를 기다리고 있다.

신용붕괴로 발이 묶인 유로시장이 한국 경제에 미치는 영향에 대한 우려가 증가하고 있는 가운데 관광객과 사업가의 방문 감소는 항공사와 호텔 등 관광 서비스 관련 업계를 뒤흔들고 있다.