Fewer Japanese in top Seoul stores

Japanese tourists are absent from the nearly deserted streets of Chuncheon, Gangwon, which is normally popular among Japanese as the setting for “Winter Sonata,” the hit Korean television drama. [YONHAP]

In the shopping district of Myeong-dong, central Seoul, yesterday afternoon, the streets lined with colorful cosmetics shops and clothing stores lacked the usual crowds.

At a Missha outlet, a local cosmetics brand, only a few Japanese visitors contemplated the gleaming rows of lipsticks and nail polish.

“The decrease in Japanese tourists is noticeable,” said store manager Kim Hyo-jung. “It’s been getting worse since the earthquake.”

Korea’s retail industry is bracing for a decrease in sales from Japanese tourists.

Large travel agencies are reporting lower tourist traffic between Korea and Japan.

Some 3 million Japanese tourists visited Korea last year, while 2.4 million Koreans traveled to Japan, according to the Korea Tourism Organization.

At the Missha outlet in Myeong-dong, where Japanese tourists account for 60 percent of total revenue, Kim said that daily takings have definitely taken a hit.

“Among Japanese visitors, older women are the big spenders - but there have been a lot fewer older Japanese women,” she said.

Outside Seoul, regions favored by Japanese tourists are suffering losses, such as Chuncheon, Gangwon - a popular destination among Japanese visitors since it was used as the setting for the 2002 hit drama “Winter Sonata,” which has a huge following in Japan.

Shopkeepers in Myeong-dong, Chuncheon, reported yesterday that Japanese tourist traffic has fallen by 75 percent from a week ago.

However, analysts believe that the falling number of Japanese tourists will have only a limited impact on Korea’s retail sector.

“Japanese customers account for less than 0.5 percent of total revenues at retail companies, and the effect from the earthquake will be small,” said Gene Park, a retail analyst for Woori Investment & Securities, in a report released on Tuesday.

The travel industry appears to be suffering a bigger hit. “All travel packages to Japan have been canceled for this week, and next week’s trips are very likely to be canceled as well,” said Nam Soo-hyun, a spokesperson for Modetour, a leading local travel agency. “As for inbound travel, some 15 to 20 percent has been canceled.”

According to the Korea Tourism Organization, total travelers to Korea decreased by 36 percent in 1995, at the time of the Kobe earthquake, which was then the second-most destructive earthquake in modern Japanese history.

However, tourist industry representatives said they were not worried about the overall ramifications.

“Unlike the 2004 tsunami in Southeast Asia when a bunch of vacation destinations were wiped out at once, this disaster is confined to just one country. Outbound travel will remain mostly intact as Koreans will have other destinations like Southeast Asia and China to visit in the coming months,” Nam said.

By Lee Jung-yoon [joyce@joongang.co.kr]