SEOUL, July 23 (Xinhua) -- Foreign tourists visiting South Korea rose in the first half of this year, data showed Monday.
The number of foreign travelers to South Korea totaled 7.22 million in the January-June period, up 6.9 percent from the same period of last year, according to the Korea Tourism Organization.
The figure for Chinese tourists fell 3.7 percent to 2.17 million in the first half, but the number jumped 51.7 percent in the April-June quarter after plunging 30.5 percent in the January-March quarter.
Money, spent by Chinese tourists during their visits, averaged 2,026.5 U.S. dollars per person in the January-March quarter, up from 1,848 dollars a year earlier.
A total of 1.31 Japanese tourists visited South Korea in the first half, up 18 percent from a year ago.
The increase was attributed to improved inter-Korean relations and resurfacing popularity in Japan for South Korea's pop music, called K-pop.
The number of other Asian and Middle East travelers to South Korea advanced 12.4 percent over the year to 2.42 million in the first half.
