By Lee Hyo-sik
A record number of Chinese tourists are coming to Korea’s southern resort island of Jeju, providing a boost to the tourism industry there.
Experts say that besides Jeju’s picturesque scenery, a visa-waiver program for Chinese nationals visiting the island and more air routes linking the island with Shanghai and other Chinese cities combine to attract more tourists from the mainland.
According to the Jeju Special Self-Governing Provincial Tourism Association Wednesday, the number of Chinese tourists visiting Jeju Island stood at 325,393 in the first eight months of the year, up 17.1 percent from 277,924 the same period last year.
In August alone, 93,835 tourists from the mainland came to the nation’s largest island, up 44 percent from 65,226 a year ago.
A range of incentives targeting group tourists support the trend.
“Jeju Island has long been a popular travel destination for Chinese tourists, particularly for those from inland areas. The island is geographically close to the mainland. It is also relatively cheaper for them to come here than other tourist destinations,” said Han Hwa-joon, director of China Team at the Korea Tourism Organization (KTO).
Han said more flights connecting Jeju with Chinese cities, as well as a visa-waiver program for Chinese nationals visiting the island have helped attract more visitors from the mainland. In 2008, the Korean government began allowing Chinese to stay on the island for up to 30 days without a visa.
“The Jeju provincial government, KTO and other state tourism promotion bodies have been making an all-out effort to draw as many Chinese tourists as possible. Among others, we have been able to persuade several Chinese companies to send their employees to Seoul and Jeju Island on a corporate sponsored trip,” the director said.
On Tuesday, 1,363 employees of Pro-Health Product, a health-care and first aid goods manufacturer based in Guangzhou, arrived in Jeju Island on a four-day tour program. They will also stay in Seoul for another two days.
They are first group of the company’s top-performing sales agents and seven more groups, totaling 11,000, are scheduled to visit the island through Sept. 28 on an employee incentive program.
“It is the largest corporate incentive tourist group Korea has ever attracted from a foreign country. This will encourage more Chinese companies to hold conferences and organize employee tours to Korea, helping to draw more visitors to the nation,” Han said.
He expects the eight tour groups to spend up to 40 billion won ($36.7 million), providing a boost to hotels and other hospitality-related businesses on the island. In July, Infinitus China sent 2,013 employees to Korea as part of an employee incentive program. They visited a number of tourist spots on Jeju.