The weakening Korean won is expected to impact the country’s inbound travel in 2025, Leechiu Property Consultants (LPC) said.
Korean won fell to its lowest level in over 16 years on April 8, days since the Trump administration announced sweeping “reciprocal tariffs” on states and prompted fears of a global trade war.
Citing the Department of Tourism (DOT) data, LPC Director for Hotels, Tourism, and Leisure Alfred Lay said the first quarter figures signaled that the tourism sector is “plateauing” in terms of increasing the international visitor arrivals.
“A lot of this is not necessarily in our control — the areas that are out of our control are things like our top source market, South Korea,” he said in a media briefing on Tuesday.
“Just like Japan did for the last few years, where they’ve had 30 to 35-year lows of the yen against the dollar, the Korean won is facing a similar situation at the moment — ever since they had that Martial Law declaration and the political turmoil that has brought an uncertainty, the South Korean market has really dropped off,” he said.
In the first quarter of 2025, the country received 395,059 visitors from South Korea, down by 13.86 percent from 458,619 last year.
The South Korean number represents almost a quarter or 23.88 percent of the overall inbound arrivals, which Lay said was a “key driver” of the country’s pandemic rebound.
“So, seeing our largest source market drop off by 14 percent is something that we need to be very, very mindful and cautious about and seek solutions to deal with that,” he said.
He added China’s absence from the top five source markets marked a “significant shift,” the first time it fell from the list since the DOT began tracking tourist data online in 2008.
Leechiu, Lay said, estimates that tourist arrivals will remain at 6 million by the end of 2025.
Meanwhile, Lay recognized the growth in the US, Japan, Australia, and Canada markets, which ranges between 8 and 19 percent increase in arrivals this quarter.
He said the American market is also likely to stay strong despite the current situation in the US and slowdown in air traffic growth. (PNA)
