Japanese tourists to Korea by air rise 15 percent

SEOUL, Dec. 10 (Yonhap) -- The number of Japanese nationals flying to South Korea
increased by nearly 15 percent in November from a year earlier, giving South
Korean an unexpected off-season tourism boon as a result of the weak won,
government data suggested Wednesday.

The report by Incheon Airport Immigration said 228,431 Japanese travelers entered
the country through the major airports of Incheon, Gimpo and Gimhae, last month,
up 14.9 percent from the same month in 2007.
The Korean won has been one of Asia's worst performing major currencies this
year. As of Wednesday, 100 yen equaled 1,564 won. up 9.8 percent from 791.11 won
on Oct. 31 last year.
In October, 228,895 Japanese nationals traveled to Korea, up 2.73 percent from a
year earlier. In September, 200,450 came, up 4.87 percent.
By sea and air overall, a total of 232,168 Japanese tourists headed for Korea in
October, up 3.15 percent from a year earlier, according to the latest data
available by Korea Tourism Organization. The growth rate for November, due to be
filed later this week, was expected to surpass 10 percent.
"The growth rate in November will be much higher than October because the number
of Japanese tourists increased thanks to the strong yen, even though November has
been traditionally an off-season in Korean tourism," Baek Hye-jin, a tourism
official, said.
Korean Air, the country's largest airliner, said ticket sales have risen sharply
at its Japanese branches. It sold 199,609 tickets bound for Korea last month, up
18 percent from a year earlier.
Tourism is a rare sector in which Korea is gaining a competitive edge over Japan
amid the global economic turmoil. Korean exports of information technology
products to Japan sank 37.5 percent on-year in November due to a sharp decline in
demand.
hkim@yna.co.kr
(END)