By Lee Hyo-sik
A record number of Koreans are expected to head overseas during the upcoming Lunar New Year holiday from Feb. 2 to 6, according to the travel industry, Friday.
A five-day-long holiday period makes it easier for salaried workers to go to China, Japan and other foreign destinations, and with the strengthening of the won against foreign currencies along with rising income amid an economic recovery, this will only further encourage more people to spend the holiday abroad.
Hana Tour, one of the nation’s largest travel agencies, said over 34,000 individuals will travel abroad during the upcoming holiday on its tourism packages, up 36.5 percent from the same period last year. In 2010, Koreans had a four-day Lunar New Year holiday from Feb. 5 to 8.
“It is a tradition for Koreans to visit their hometowns to see their parents, relatives and friends at least twice a year — the Lunar New Year (or Seollal) and Chuseok holidays. But more and more people are making it a short trip to their hometowns in order to travel overseas. Some do not even go to their birthplaces so they can spend the entire holiday season in a foreign country,” a Hana Tour travel agent said.
She also said the longer holiday period, coupled with improving business conditions and the stabilized foreign exchange rates, has prompted more families to travel abroad.
Another major travel agency, Mode Tour said it has sold Seollal holiday tour packages to over 28,000 travelers, more than twice as many as last year.
“We will see a record number of people head overseas during the upcoming holiday. In particular, many want to go to warmer places, such as a hot springs resort in Japan or resorts in Southeast Asia, due to the ongoing cold weather here,” a Hana Tour agent said.
The agent also said low cost airliners have launched flights to Southeast Asia, making it cheaper for Koreans to go there. “ A larger supply of airplane seats by budget carriers brought down prices to destinations in Southeast Asia. This certainly encourages many individuals to travel to the region.”
Korean Air and other airline companies are seeing their booking rates reach over 90 percent for flights to China and Southeast Asia.
“Nearly 99 percent of our seats for Southeast Asian routes are reserved as of Jan. 21. The figure for flights heading to China and Japan stands at 93 percent and 84 percent,” a Korean Air spokesman said.
I think as we approach closer to the Lunar New Year holiday, all seats will be sold,” a Korean Air spokesman said.
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