The local tourism industry is battered by Beijing's apparent retaliation against South Korea for the ongoing deployment of the Terminal High Altitude Area Defense on its soil.

Since March 15, China has banned travel agencies there from selling travel packages to Korea, with its cruises no longer making stopovers at Korean ports.

Given the current trend, the total number of Chinese tourists visiting South Korea could drop by half to some 4 million this year, from some 8.07 recorded last year, the airport operator forecasted.

The IIAC said it will put efforts to attract individual tourists from China, as well as travelers from other neighboring countries such as Japan. (Yonhap)