The number of foreign travelers to South Korea slipped for the fourth consecutive month in September, but it moved closer to the level seen before the MERS outbreak in the country, data showed Wednesday.
South Korea was hit hard by the MERS outbreak since the first confirmed case in late May, with the number of foreign visitors plunging 41 percent and 53.5 percent year-on-year in June and July, respectively.
The tourism industry has been reeling from the aftermath since late summer as inbound travelers declined 26.5 percent and 3.1 percent in August and September, respectively, from a year earlier, according to the data compiled by the state-run Korea Tourism Organization.
The number of foreign visitors through September declined 10.3 percent to 9.58 million, it said.
"The South Korean tourism market has nearly recovered from the fallout from the MERS outbreak," the KTO said. "The number of inbound travelers is expected to mark year-over-year gains starting in October."
The number of Chinese travelers, the No. 1 tourist group, rose 4.8 percent on-year to 591,242 last month, largely attributable to the long-haul Chinese holiday.
Travelers from Hong Kong jumped 29 percent to 52,400 in the same period on the back of the normalization of air routes and special airfare discounts, it said.
In contrast, Japanese tourists fell 10.3 percent to 157,313 in September, 20 percent down from a year earlier, the data showed. (Yonhap)
