Spending on overseas tourism rises by most in 13 years

Korean tourists' total spending on overseas group tours posted the sharpest increase last month in 13 years, according to Statistics Korea, on Tuesday, mainly due to rises in accommodation costs and airline fuel surcharges.

Consumer prices for overseas group tours in October showed a 15.9 percent increase from the same month last year, data from the Korean Statistical Information Service showed.

Though the figure has been on a constant rise in recent months, advancing from 5.7 percent in August to 12.6 percent in September, this is the sharpest increase seen in more than 13 years since the monthly figure rose by 17.6 percent in September 2010.

The figure shows a steep increase when compared to the fact that the consumer price growth, which indicates the general rate of inflation, stood at 3.8 percent in the same month.