Travelers opt for trips abroad over domestic options as borders reopen

Duty free zone at Incheon International Airport is crowded with outbound travelers, Thursday. Yonhap

By Lee Hae-rin

Korean tourists are flocking overseas instead of traveling domestically as borders reopen and demand for travel rebounds, a recent report by a government research group said, Sunday.

The Korea Culture and Tourism Institute, a research group under the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism, released in its third quarterly report on traveling behavior on Nov. 28.

According to the report, 42.6 percent of 2,860 respondents aged over 15 picked “domestic travel” as the most awaited leisure activity to do in the next quarter. The figure is 8.9 percent less than the 51.5 percent from the second quarter.

On the other hand, 32.5 percent, which is 7.9 percent more than the previous quarter's 24.6 percent, answered they wish to travel overseas in the next quarter.

Overall perception on the danger of travel has eased, the study shows.

25.8 percent of respondents answered that the COVID-19 pandemic poses a safety threat to domestic travel, which is 15 percent less than the previous month when it stood at 40.9 percent.

The number of outbound travelers is on the rise too, the government's tourism statistics show.

The Korea Tourism Organization (KTO)'s data shows that over 773,400 Koreans traveled overseas in November. The figure is the highest record this year and a 521.8 percent increase from November last year.