Jung Min-ho has worked as a staff writer at The Korea Times since 2012, mostly covering social and political issues. He currently belongs to the Politics & City Desk where he covers topics such as health, labor and human rights. Prior to joining the team, he was responsible for covering North Korea and sports. His article about a biosecurity breach of Middle East respiratory syndrome won him an award from the Korea Science Journalists Association in 2016. He is also the co-author of the book, "Medical Pioneers of Korea" (2019). He served as the head of the international relations committee at the Journalists Association of Korea from 2021 to 2023.
Hundreds of accommodation businesses on Jeju Island close amid decrease in Korean visitors
People relax on a beach amid strong winds on north Jeju, Tuesday. Many accommodation facilities in Jeju are closing this year as the resort island is losing its sheen with Korean tourists. Yonhap
By Jung Min-ho
Hundreds of accommodations on the resort island of Jeju are closing as it is losing its sheen with Korean vacationers.
According to the local government of Jeju Province on Friday, 227 accommodations, including small-sized hotels and hostels, went out of business between January and May, with 21 temporarily closing.
This is a grim sign of Jeju’s economy, which heavily relies on the tourism sector. During the same period the previous year, five such businesses reported their closures, with one temporarily suspending operation.
Home-stay business owners accounted for 219 of 248 those closing this year permanently or temporarily.
The number of accommodations there swelled during the COVID-19 pandemic, from 5,933 in 2021 to 6,960 in 2023, as many Koreans opted to choose Jeju as their holiday destination amid strict border restrictions in place across the world.
With all pandemic restrictions lifted, many travelers have gone overseas instead since the end of the pandemic, which was officially declared over by the World Health Organization in May 2023.
For the first five months of this year, 4,926,088 Korean tourists visited the island, compared with 5,344,546 in 2023 and 5,539,816 in 2022.
There has been a surge in the number of foreign visitors to Jeju. But they tend to stay at big hotels, many of which have business deals with travel agencies that bring them to the island through their package programs.