Tourism sector floats raising departure levy as fund shrinks

AI핵심 요약

• ·Advocates say foreign tourists bring in less tax revenue than Koreans spend abroad Travel industry groups, lawmakers and tourism scholars have called for raising South Korea's departure levy, warning that a 2024 cut has drained the country's main tourism fund at a time when the industry is struggling with high oil prices and global uncertainty.
• ·The appeal was floated during a roundtable at the National Assembly on Monday concerning whether now is the time to raise the charge.
• ·The session was hosted by Rep.
• ·Cho Gye-won of the assembly's Culture, Sports and Tourism Committee and the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism, organized by the Korea Tourism Organization, the Korea Tourism Association and the Tourism Sciences Society of Korea.
• ·The departure levy is a key pillar of the Tourism Promotion and Development Fund, supplying about 30 percent of its revenue.