At Golden Gate bridge, Da Nang (Photo: VNA) Tokyo (VNA) – Growing trade feud betweenJapan and the Republic of Korea (RoK) is redrawing the map of Asian tourism,with the RoK and Chinese travelers avoiding previously popular destinationslike Japan and Hong Kong for Southeast Asia, according to the Japan’s NikkeiAsia Review.
In the first half of this year, the number of RoK touristarrivals in Southeast Asian nations rose nearly 20 percent annually.
Thearticle said Vietnam and the Philippines have both enjoyed double-digit growthin travelers from the RoK. About 150,000 Koreans live in Vietnam, which is hometo two Samsung Electronics plants. Samsung products account for roughly aquarter of Vietnamese exports.
TheRoK government plans to open a consulate in the central city of Da Nang laterthis year to serve tourists there.
Asurvey by the e-commerce company Wemakeprice showed that Da Nang remains themost popular among RoK tourists during Chuseok (Mid-Autumn) holiday, followedby Bangkok and Guam. Japanese destinations like Tokyo and Okinawa have slippedin the rankings.
Meanwhile,the Tourism Authority of Thailand has begun offering up to 30 percent off forEast Asian tourists at key shopping malls and duty-free stores. The discountruns to the end of October.
Taiwaneseauthorities expect 400,000 fewer Chinese tourists in latter half this year,causing an economic loss of around 630 million USD.
TheRoK is responsible for about 5 percent of visitors to ASEAN member states,according to the bloc's statistics. This puts the country in third place amongnon-ASEAN sources, behind China and the European Union.
Meanwhile,the UN World Tourism Organisation said China spent 277 billion USD oninternational tourism in 2018 to top the global rankings. The RoK was Asia'snext biggest spender at 32 billion USD, coming in ninth overall./.
