Sports Tourism

[Anchor Lead]

A growing number of Chinese are visiting Korea these days to take part in sports competitions or to cheer for certain matches. Group tours from China significantly dropped since the bilateral conflict over Seoul's deployment of a US missile defense system. But now, sports tourism is emerging as a promising new trend. Let's take a look.

[Pkg]

Here, an international marathon is under way in downtown Seoul. A Chinese participant is aiming to complete a full marathon for the 7th time.

[Soundbite] (Runner from Guangzhou, China) : "There's no time difference with Korea so I could quickly adjust. I also heard about higher chances of setting a personal record running in Korea."

She's not alone. Some 260 Chinese runners are taking part in the event. They take photos with Korean marathoners and also build friendships, visiting tourist sites after the run.

[Soundbite] (Runner from Guangzhou, China) : "After the run, I want to go to Myeongdong area and eat something nice and take a look around."

Unlike group package tours where everyone needs to move together according to the same itinerary, Chinese visitors taking part in sports events follow their own schedules and enjoy tourist activities on the side. Here, Chinese soccer fans are among the spectators at this football stadium in Daegu. They passionately cheer for China in a match against Korea, despite the rainy, chilly weather. China loses 3 to 1. But the result doesn't stop the Chinese fans from regaining their joyous travelers' mood and enjoying fried chicken and beer, Korean style.

[Soundbite] (Visitor from Guangzhou, China) : "Watching a soccer match while traveling is wonderful. I can root for my team and also experience Korean culture."

Group tourists from China, whose numbers reached 8 million in 2016, plunged since the conflict over Korea's deployment of the U.S. THAAD antimissile system. With Chinese restrictions on Korean cultural content still in place, sports tourism is injecting fresh momentum into Korea's tourism sector.