South Korea will extend a waiver on visa processing fees for group tourists from six countries, including India, for another six months, Finance Minister Koo Yun-cheol said on Wednesday.
The fee exemption for C-3-2 short-term group visas, which had been due to expire on Wednesday, will now run until the end of June next year, according to the Yonhap news agency. The countries covered are India, China, Vietnam, the Philippines, Indonesia and Cambodia.
The move is aimed at sustaining momentum in inbound tourism, Koo said. Processing fees for C-3-2 visas are currently set at 18,000 won ($12.46).
Foreign arrivals to South Korea increased sharply in November, increasing 17.3 per cent from a year earlier as the tourism sector continued its recovery to pre-pandemic levels, official data showed.
About 1.6 million foreign tourists visited the country in November, compared with 1.36 million a year earlier and 9.6 per cent more than in the same month of 2019, according to the Korea Tourism Organization (KTO).
China remained the largest source of visitors with 378,000 arrivals, followed by Japan with 363,000, Taiwan with 158,000, the United States with 133,000 and the Philippines with 60,000.
While arrivals from China recovered to around 75 per cent of 2019 levels, the number of Japanese tourists jumped 40.4 per cent compared with the same period that year.
From January to November, South Korea received 17.42 million foreign visitors, up 15.4 per cent from a year earlier and 8.6 per cent above 2019 levels, the KTO said. Chinese visitors accounted for about 29.2 per cent, or 5.09 million, of the total.
(IANS)
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