[THE INVESTOR] With the number of Chinese tourists to South Korea sharply declining, the nation’s tourism industry may suffer from an estimated 81.6 trillion won ($72 billion) of losses and around 40,000 workers in the industry might lose their jobs.

Hyundai Research Institute said in a report that around 3.33 million Chinese visitors appear to have canceled their trips to South Korea amid the escalating diplomatic dispute over the deployment of the US Terminal High Altitude Area Defense anti-missile system. 

The industry is expected to see around 18.7 trillion won of losses, if calculated on a yearly basis and based on the average expenses spent by each Chinese tourist last year. 

(theinvestor@heraldcorp.com)