Surprise: Limited welcome for Chinese Tourists visiting North Korea

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Written by Linda Hohnholz

Why is North Korea all the sudden concentrating on promoting inbound tourism to Europe and South East Asia?

Why is North Korea all the sudden concentrating on promoting inbound tourism to Europe and South East Asia?

Chinese Tourists traveling to North Korea and their habit of throwing candy to North Korean children like “feeding ducks”, or snatching infants for photo-ops, North Korea’s move to distance themselves in relying on Chinese tourists comes as a surprise. After all Chinese are the one and only ally this isolated country still has.

Eager not to rely too heavily on tourists from across the Yalu, Pyongyang has been looking for ways to promote tourism from countries other than the PRC.

According to South Korea’s Yonhap News Agency, Beijing prohibited tour groups from entering North Korea overland since last year, as punishment for Pyongyang’s three nuclear tests conducted in February that year that went ahead without Chinese approval.

As a result, North Korea’s foreign currency income plummeted, and they are now taking measures to avoid such a sharp downturn in the future. In particular, they are focusing on developing tour groups from Europe and south-east Asia.

This has all led Chinese citizens from Taiwan and Hong Kong, which is currently debating the possibility of reducing the number of mainland visitors by 20 percent, to look at the Hermit Kingdom with a sudden tinge of envy.

Commentators pointed out that despite being a dictator, even Kim Jong-Un knows you can’t revitalize the tourism industry by relying on one source of tourists alone, making him several shades smarter than Hong Kong Chief Executive CY Leung and Taiwan’s president Ma Ying-jeou.

North Korean officials really have a lot of wisdom. Their foresight far outstrips that of Hong Kong bureaucrats.

About the author

Avatar of Linda Hohnholz

Linda Hohnholz

Editor in chief for eTurboNews based in the eTN HQ.

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