Foreign Tourist Visits to Busan in March Drop 95% Due to COVID-19

Quiet Busan Port International Passenger Terminal

[Asia Economy Yeongnam Reporting Headquarters Reporter Kang Sharon] Due to the spread of the novel coronavirus infection (COVID-19), air and sea routes have been blocked, resulting in a sharp decline in the number of foreign tourists visiting Busan.

Busan City announced on the 4th that the number of tourists visiting Busan in March, when COVID-19 began to spread globally, was 11,683, a 95% decrease compared to the same month last year.

Looking at the entry trends by country, the number of Chinese tourists was 739, a 97.5% decrease compared to 29,040 last year, and Japanese tourists also decreased by 98.8% from 59,837 last year to 739.

Tourists from six major Southeast Asian countries including the Philippines, Indonesia, Vietnam, Thailand, Malaysia, and Singapore also dropped by 92.1% from last year, totaling only 3,497.

Busan City and the Busan Tourism Organization plan to prepare various support measures such as domestic tourism activation programs to recover the local tourism industry, which has been severely damaged by the decrease in foreign tourists.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.