Lee Hae-rin is a City Desk reporter at The Korea Times, covering social issues, tourism and taekwondo. She is passionate about speaking up for the rights of minorities, including women, LGBTQ+, people with disabilities and animals as well as discovering the latest makgeolli trend in town. Feel free to reach her at lhr@koreatimes.co.kr.
Tourism industry shows mixed reactions to restrictions on Chinese visitors
Travelers arriving at Incheon International Airport enter the COVID-19 testing center at the Terminal 1 of the airport, Dec. 30. Newsis
By Lee Hae-rin
By Lee Hae-rin
Korea has started requiring visitors from China to submit PCR test results.
The latest measure, which came into effect on Monday, came amid increasing expectations in the local tourism industry about the return of Chinese tourists following Beijing's lifting of travel restrictions.
According to the restrictions unveiled on Friday, Korea would require Chinese visitors to take PCR tests upon arrival and turn in negative results ― negative PCR test result taken 48 hours before entering the country or rapid antigen test (RAT) test result taken within 24 hours before entry ― starting from Jan. 5.
Also, the government is limiting Chinese travelers from entering Korea by not issuing short-term visas for Chinese nationals in January unless it is for diplomatic, business, or humanitarian reasons. Plus, planes from China will only be able to land at Incheon International Airport.
The government's latest border control measures on China could “throw cold water on the industry's hopes for a recovery,” an official at Mode Travel, a local travel agency, told The Korea Times.
The company recreated a special team handling travel to China and has also been preparing for the return of Chinese tourists, he said.
However, another source said the tourism industry “didn't expect a sudden inbound travel recovery from China in the near future, regardless of the government restrictions, because Chinese tourists tend to visit Korea in the spring and not during winter.
“A few months of delay in Chinese tourists' influx is less likely to seriously damage the industry,” she said despite admitting that if the border controls on China go on until the busy season in spring, it could become a concern for the industry.
In the wake of the Chinese government's announcement of eased lockdown measures, reservations for outbound travel to Korea spiked on Dec. 26.
China's online travel website, Tongcheng Travel, said that the search volume related to outbound trips increased dramatically right after the Chinese government's announcement. It includes 8.5 times more searches for flights, while searches related to visas surged 8.5 times, and Korea is among the most searched travel destinations, including Japan and Thailand.
According to the Chinese travel agency, Ctrip, the search volume for flights to Korea increased by 158 percent a day after the Chinese government's announcement. The most searched destinations included Seoul, Busan and Jeju Island, which increased by 177, 165, and 46 percent, respectively compared to the day before. The reservation rate for flights to Korea increased 400 percent on Dec. 27.
The Korean tourism industry has been anticipating the return of Chinese visitors, who accounted for one third of foreigners visiting Korea before the pandemic. China was the top revenue source of the Korean tourism industry as more than six million Chinese people came here to visit annually. However, the figure dropped to around 170,000 last year, according to the Korea Tourism Organization (KTO).
Meanwhile, the number of new COVID-19 infection cases originating from China has been increasing. In November, China contributed only to 1.1 percent of new cases with 19 people out of 1,750, but the figure went up to 14.2 percent to 253 new cases in December, according to the Central Disease Control Headquarters.
Several countries including Korea have taken border control measures against China.
Japan, which ended post-arrival PCR mandates on foreigners in October resumed the regulation within the day of the Chinese authorities' announcement, exclusively to the Chinese arrivals. France and the U.S. require all travelers from China to present a negative test result prior to departure. Korea has taken both these measures against passengers coming from China.
“The fact that we need to be ready (for the return of tourists) remains unchanged … Waiting for the good news, we will be working for ways to better welcome travelers,” the employee said.