Outbound travelers expected to hit record 15 million this year
According to the Korea Customs Service (KCS) on Sunday (Aug. 21), the number of outbound travelers who departed Korea reached 8.3 million in the first seven months of the year, up 14.2 percent from the corresponding period a year earlier.
The customs agency ascribed the rise in overseas travel to the introduction of the five-day workweek and to the increased value of the Korean currency.
The KCS expects the number to reach around 15 million by year’s end, given that the international tour demand reaches its culmination in August, Korea’s peak summer holiday season.
Travelers to foreign countries rose from 10.4 million in 2003 to 13 million in 2004.
