 A foreign resident in Japan and her two children pass through residual radiation detection gates at Incheon International Airport last Thursday. Many foreigners evacuating from Japan are choosing Korea as their stopover place. / Yonhap |
By Kim Rahn
Evacuees from Japan are crowding hotels in Seoul after the massive earthquake there and from fears of possible aftershocks or threats of radioactive leaks.
Some foreigners stay here for a couple of days before heading to their home countries, while others have chosen to stay until the situation in Japan settles down.
On March 17, about 240 French evacuees arrived to stay in about 100 rooms at the Grand Ambassador Seoul in the downtown area. The French government employed two aircraft from the country’s Air Force to arrange the evacuation.
“They arrived late at night after the operation hours of the hotel restaurants, but food and beverage staff worked overtime to serve those people who were here taking shelter from the disaster,” a spokeswoman at the hotel said.
They stayed for two days and continued on to France, she said.
Flight attendants of Austrian Airlines and Turkish Airlines, who were originally scheduled to stay in Tokyo between flights, came to the same hotel instead, following instructions from their respective companies not to stay in Japan due to the possible radiation leak.
“We’ve had several other airlines also inquire about rooms for their flight attendants,” she said.
Novotel Ambassador Doksan in western Seoul also had 34 crewmembers of Turkish Airlines stay with them last Friday and Saturday after being told to not stay in Japan.
The Ritz-Carlton Seoul in southern Seoul said it received a written request from a branch of a U.S. company in Japan last week about accommodating its employees. “The firm said it needed 20 to 30 rooms for three weeks. But the workers didn’t stay at our hotel. I heard the company had sent the inquiry to several hotels in Korea, but I’m not sure if they decided on a different hotel or remained in Japan,” the hotel’s spokeswoman said.
Located near Incheon International Airport, the Hyatt Regency Incheon said it received room requests from foreign airlines and foreign embassies in Korea.
“Some foreigners in Japan had difficulty getting plane tickets to their home destination from Japan, which is seeing a mass exodus. Foreign Offices have encouraged them to fly to Korea first and get tickets from Seoul. Such foreigners usually don’t wish to spend time in Korea but just return home as quickly as possible, so they prefer hotels near the airport,” the hotel spokeswoman said.
Besides Seoul, Busan is also seeing a larger number of foreign visitors than usual.
According to Gimhae Airport Immigration Office, 1,800 foreigners arrived at the airport from Japan last Saturday, about 500 more than the average daily number of travelers last year.
PanStar, the operator of a ferry between Busan and Osaka, said 476 people arrived at Busan Port Saturday after departing Osaka the previous day — about five times the 97 who headed for the Japanese city from Busan on the same boat on March 14.
Other ferry operators in the southeastern port city said there has been an increase of people arriving from Japan, while Korean group tours have been canceling trips to Japan.
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