SEOUL/TOKYO/BANGKOK, Jan 10 (Reuters) – South Korean and Japanese shop owners, Thai tour bus operators and K-pop groups are among those celebrating China’s border reopening as businesses around Asia rekindle ties with the region’s largest economy.
China was the world’s largest outbound tourism market before the pandemic, and the absence of its once $255 billion of annual spending since borders were shut three years ago has led to financial trouble for many tourism-dependent businesses and employees.
“I’m not afraid of getting COVID-19,” said Choi Dae-sung, 49, who has sold clothes and other products in Seoul’s busy Myeongdong shopping district for about 30 years but rode a motor bike delivering food to make…
