The 16 casinos in the South Korean country attracted 2.22 million tourists last year, which represents a decrease of 6.2% year-on-year, according to data from the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism of South Korea.
After reaching 2.96 million visitors in 2014, the number decreased by 11.8% year-on-year in 2015, decreasing again by 9.6% the following year.
The ministry attributed the year-on-year decline to the diplomatic row between South Korea and China over the decision by Seoul and Washington to deploy the US High-Altitude Area Terminal Defense System (THAAD) in the south of the Korean peninsula.
China banned group tour package sales to South Korea in March last year and took other retaliatory measures against South Korean firms in its country, insisting that THAAD represented a threat to its security.
The measure caused a collapse in the number of Chinese tourists in South Korea, impacting hard on the local tourism industry, and on the national firms that made incursions into the second largest economy in the world. (READ SO: GAMBLING HELPS TO ECONOMICAL CHINESE BOOST)
According to the Ministry's registry, tourists in national casinos accounted for only 16.6% of the total number of foreign tourists in South Korea in 2017, but the figure represents a change of trend with respect to the decrease of 13.7% recorded in 2016, and also constitutes a rebound for the first time in four years.
Revenues in foreign currencies of the South Korean casinos stood at 1.07 billion dollars last year, down 2.9% from the previous year. However, its share of the country's total foreign exchange earnings for tourism was a year-on-year increase, recovering at the 8% level.
Kangwon Land Inc., which operates the only casino open to South Koreans, recorded the highest revenues, with 1.52 trillion won (US $ 1.36 billion) in 2017, among the 13 casino operators in the country. The rest of the casino operators, for the exclusive use of foreigners, registered earnings of 1.21 trillion won (US $ 1.08 billion).
A ministry official said the number of tourists in exclusive casinos for foreigners kept growing this year, as more Chinese are visiting the country.
The exclusive casinos for foreigners received the greatest impact due to the diplomatic dispute between the two Asian countries. However, this year, along with the increase in Chinese tourists, the number of visitors to casinos registered an increase.
Seoul and Beijing agreed, in November, to normalize their diplomatic ties, leaving behind the dispute over THAAD. Since then China allowed group tourism to South Korea, but Beijing continues to limit incentive trips for workers and cruises to the south of the peninsula.
