The number of South Koreans who traveled abroad continued to grow in September as more Koreans took advantage of cheaper tickets offered by low-cost carriers, with the trend expected to be maintained this month on a long holiday, industry data showed Tuesday.

According to the data compiled by Hana Tour, the country's No. 1 travel agency, about 283,000 people took overseas trips through its tour programs offered last month, up 19.3 percent from the same month a year earlier.

The increase of trips to Southeast Asian countries was the most remarkable, posting a 38.9 percent growth on-year, with outbound tours to Japan and the South Pacific rising 30.3 percent and 27.3 percent, respectively, according to the data.

Yet, those who traveled to China plunged 37.7 percent last month amid a prolonged diplomatic row between Seoul and Beijing over the deployment of a US anti-missile system here.

Mode Tour, another leading travel agency, also said 168,000 people traveled abroad via its tour packages last month, up 29 percent from the same month in 2016.

Outbound travel by locals is expected to post sharp growth this month due to the Chuseok break -- one of the largest annual holidays here roughly equivalent to Thanksgiving in the United States -- which ran from Sept. 30 to Monday. (Yonhap)