The average spending by overseas Korean travelers reached a record high of $1,235 during the January-October period, according to the data compiled by the Korea Culture and Tourism Institute.
It broke the previous annual record of $1,224 tallied in 2011.
Officials at the institute attributed the surge in spending to the won's ascent to the U.S. dollar and a rise in the number of Korean travelers abroad.
The number of Korean tourists rose 7 percent to 13.36 million in the first 10 months from the same period last year, the data said. The figure accounted for about 90 percent of the total Korean travelers abroad in 2013.
Meanwhile, the number of foreign travelers visiting Korea soared 16 percent to 11.99 million year-on-year in the January-October period. Chinese visitors to Korea surged by 39 percent to 5.24 million, while Japanese arrivals dropped by 16.4 percent to 1.93 million, the data said.
reporter
Park Sae-jin
swatchsjp@ajunews.com
