Non-Korean shoppers at duty-free shops across Korea dropped below the 1 million threshold last month. The last time the number hit below 1 million was in July 2015 when tourists stopped coming to Korea due to the outbreak of the Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS).

According to data by the Korea Duty Free Shops Association Tuesday, 998,000 foreign nationals visited Korean duty-free shops in April, down 19.2 percent from 1,235,000 tallied in the previous month. Korean shoppers totaled 2,705,000, up 6.8 percent on month in April. Combined figures reached 3,704,000, down 1.7 percent from a month earlier.

Foreign shopping in Korean duty-free shops have been dropping from the peak of 1.9 million in August after Beijing turned blatant in retaliation against Seoul’s decision to bring in U.S. missile system in the country. From January it had been sanctioning trips to Korea by its nationals.

The move has dealt a major blow to duty-free shops as they have largely been relying on Chinese visitors.

The Chinese on average have been responsible for 60 percent to 80 percent of revenue at duty-free shops in Korea. Other nationals - the Japanese, Southeast Asians, and others - contribute just 5 percent of their sales.

Combined sales of duty-free shops in downtown Seoul and airports last year reached 12.3 trillion won ($10.9 billion) and the lion’s share of 70 percent came from the pockets of the Chinese.

By Choi Seung-jin

[ⓒ Pulse by Maeil Business Newspaper & mk.co.kr, All rights reserved]