Chinese tourism to South Korea is picking up with the end of political instability in Seoul and the two nations pledging closer relations shortly before visa exemptions take effect, travel industry sources said this week.
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Bookings from China to South Korea for the three months from April to June have been about 24 per cent higher than for the three months ending in February, according to data compiled by China Trading Desk, a travel marketing and technology company. China is South Korea’s largest source of foreign visitors.
Chinese bookings rose just 7 per cent year on year in February, making it the slowest-growing month so far this year, the company said. China’s annual Lunar New Year outbound travel boom ran from January 28 to February 4 this year.
Between December 2 and 9, as the Korean political fracas unfolded, bookings from China to South Korea for January and February fell by 12 per cent, it said.
Growth in tourism is tracking a winding down of political chaos that shook Seoul from December through to this month’s inauguration of President Lee Jae-myung. Lee and Chinese President Xi Jinping have spoken by phone to promote what China’s Xinhua News Agency called “stable relations”.
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The brief use of martial law in December and the impeachment of former president Yoon Suk-yeol deterred some Chinese tourists ahead of the Lunar New Year holiday, typically a busy season for travel. Without a permanent new president, South Korea remained on edge until this month.