Vietnamese tourists emerge as big spenders in Korea
South Jeolla Province officials welcome arriving foreign tourists at Muan International Airport in this March file photo. Korea Times file By Lee Kyung-minA growing number of Vietnamese people are coming to Korea on vacation, making large purchases at retail chains and department stores in Seoul and other regions that have yet to snap out of years of financial slowdown from the COVID-19 pandemic, according to a report revealed on Friday.Behind the recent spike in spending by Vietnamese travelers here is the resumption of flight routes. Korea's international airports in Gimhae, Busan and South Jeolla Province's Muan operate direct flights to Vietnam. Data from BC Card, a credit card firm, showed the number of card transactions made by Vietnamese tourists in the first six months of this year spiked 468 percent from the year before. For context, the year-on-year increase was 358 percent for foreign tourists excluding Vietnamese.The data analyzed 1.2 million foreign t
