Korea Times reports on “stingy” shopping habits of Japanese tourists

A weak won caused South Korea’s tourism revenue to increase by 61.3 percent last year, with foreign tourists’ per capita spending almost doubling in the same period. This should be somewhat good news in the midst of a global recession, but the Korea Times wants to remind us that Japanese tourists are “stingy” shoppers:

“At stores in Myeong-dong, about 40-50 percent of customers are Japanese. They mostly buy cosmetic items priced at 10,000 won ($7),” said Kim Chang-soo, an employee at Etude House.

“Forever 21,” a popular fast-fashion brand, opened its first Korean store in Myeong-dong last October. Clothes there range from 3,500 won to 69,800 won ($2-$50) in price and accessories cost 2,000-40,000 won ($1-$29). In November, Japanese visitors started coming to the low-priced store in crowds.

“Most of our customers are Japanese, especially in the morning,” Betty, the assistant manager of the shop, said, crediting her shop’s low prices and “freshness” with its popularity. “We sell the latest fashion items at affordable prices, so it’s easy for people to open their purses. The brand does not have branches in Japan and Japanese buyers think it’s new and fresh,” she added.

“Japanese are fastidious in buying clothes. They look around and try on a lot of items but buy only one or two cheap ones. Customers from Singapore and Hong Kong tend to buy much more,” said Park So-young, who works at an outlet near Ewha Womans University.

Grocery stores in Myeong-dong and Namdaemun Market have set up Japanese signs as well. At Dream Mart, a grocery store in central Seoul, pomegranate and omija teas, which cost around 4,000 won ($3) each , are the most popular product among Japanese shoppers.

The Korea Times article highlights the fact that Japanese tourists aren’t buying expensive products, but maybe that’s because their reporter only bothered to interview shopkeepers who sell cheap stuff. Another South Korean newspaper, the Chosun Ilbo actually bothered to check how the tourism boom has effected stores selling high-priced luxury goods:

“It’s very interesting and surprising. I have been working for Cartier for eight years, and it is the first time that sales to Japanese tourists surpassed that of Korean customers,” said Park Ji-hoon, a manager at the Cartier Maison in Cheongdam-dong, a high fashion district, in Seoul, showing the reporter a sales book for December.

“A total of 150 Japanese tourists visited our shop in December, and snapped up rare items like rings and necklaces that cost W20 to 50 million per item (US$1=W1,340). Some say the biggest beneficiary of the high-flying Japanese yen is not the Japanese, but luxury shops in Cheongdam-dong,” said Park.

According to the Korea Economic Daily on Thursday, the boom resulting from the skyrocketing value of Japanese yen against the Korean won has expanded to luxury shops, hair salons and restaurants in Apgujeong-dong and Cheongdam-dong, districts known for luxury shopping. Japanese tourists, who generally shopped for low to mid-priced items in Myeong-dong, are now turning their eyes to Korea’s mecca for luxury items.

It is also being reported that South Korea’s medical tourism industry is also seeing increased revenue from Japanese tourists. It sounds like there are quite a few Japanese tourists who are anything but stingy.

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