A report from Hyundai Research Institute showed over the weekend that losses incurred by a radical decline in Chinese tourists amount to 81.6 trillion won ($71.94 billion) yearly.

The number of incoming Chinese visitors dropped by 40 percent from March and July this year compared to the same period last year. The report estimated that some 3.33 million Chinese decided not to visit Korea in light of the Chinese government‘s purported group travel ban in a retaliation to Seoul’s deployment of a US anti-missile system here.

The losses were estimated by calculating an average spending by a Chinese traveler last year at $1,956.

The report added that a prolonged conflict with China over the missile system will gravely hurt the Korean economy in major industries and other induced production and employment.