Big-spending Chinese tourists start returning to South Korea
Retailers welcome return of avid shoppers after last year’s row over missile defences prompted a ban on group tours
Big-spending Chinese tourists are returning to South Korea even though a ban on group tours imposed last year following a row over a missile defence system remains in force.
Major department stores reported a sharp increase in revenue from Chinese shoppers during the recent May Day holiday, South Korea’s Aju Business Daily reported on Tuesday.
The total amount Chinese tourists spent in the Hyundai Department Store between April 27 and May 4 rose by over 80 per cent compared with the same period of last year, while its Trading Centre branch in Seoul saw a surge of 174 per cent, the report said.
Lotte Duty Free stores saw a 45 per cent increase in sales revenue over the holiday, 70 per cent of which came from Chinese travellers.
Beijing suspended group tours to South Korea in March last year in response to Seoul’s decision to deploy the THAAD, a network of radars and interceptors designed to knock out incoming ballistic missiles. Seoul said the system was to ward of rising threats from Pyongyang but Beijing said it could compromise its own defences.
