Return of Chinese tourists revitalizes Myeong-dong, Seoul's tourism hotspot

A street in the Myeong-dong shopping district of downtown Seoul teems with locals and foreign visitors, many of them Chinese, Friday. The neighborhood that relied heavily on Chinese tourists expects to see more Chinese travelers as Beijing last week lifted a ban on group tours to Korea after more than six years. Korea Times photo by Choi Won-suk

Local merchants, city gov't scramble to brace for influx of Chinese travelers

By Lee Hae-rin

Myeong-dong, Seoul's iconic shopping district, is coming back to life after China lifted restrictions on group tours to Korea last week. A once-familiar sight ― Chinese tourists, armed with shopping lists inspired by social media, filling their bags with popular Korean beauty products ― is becoming more visible again.

Now the country's tourism industry and government are busy preparing for the anticipated wave of Chinese visitors, who have traditionally comprised a significant portion of inbound visitors to the country.

On Friday, the buzz was palpable in Myeong-dong as foreign tourists, many of whom were Chinese, navigated stores and used their mobile phones to communicate with shop attendants.

"I made a shopping list of Korean beauty products after seeing reviews on social media," a Chinese traveler in her 20s, who wished to remain anonymous, said while sharing her shopping experience with The Korea Times at a cosmetic store there, holding a basket filled with face masks and other cosmetics products.

"I heard that face masks and lotions here are not too expensive and are really good in quality," she said, explaining she bought these items in bulk as gifts for family and friends. For the remainder of her stay, she plans to shop for clothes and accessories and visit dessert cafes.

A visitor looks around an accessory shop in Seoul's Myeong-dong shopping district, Friday. Korea Times photo by Choi Won-wuk

Several cosmetics stores in the shopping district were preparing for the return of Chinese travelers, who are avid fans of Korean beauty products, with some shops even putting up signs saying "Welcome" in Mandarin.

"Although we still don't see that many Chinese tourists, we're expecting to see a lot more in the near future," a cosmetics store staffer surnamed Jung said while displaying one-plus-one face mask packages on an outdoor stand. "A group of Chinese tourists who visited us yesterday bought many of these face masks and lotions."

Another cosmetics store manager surnamed Kim also shared the optimism, noting that merchants in the area believe it is only a "matter of time" before Chinese visitors grow in number after the group tour restrictions were lifted last week.

"We welcome all travelers, but with the return of Chinese group tours, we expect to see an increase in sales. That's why we're hiring staff who can speak Mandarin, so that we can cater to Chinese visitors better," she said.

The lifting of restrictions has been met with enthusiasm in the area, with several shops specifically seeking Mandarin-speaking staff to deal with the expected rise in visitors from China.

A symbol of the Chinese yuan is seen at a currency exchange counter in Seoul's iconic Myeong-dong shopping area, Friday. Korea Times photo by Choi Won-suk

According to the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism's annual report on inbound tourists published in 2020, a Chinese tourist spent an average of $1,239 in Korea in 2019. Thus, 6.02 million Chinese tourists who visited Korea that year spent an estimated $74 billion here, accounting for around 36 percent of the country's yearly tourism revenue of $207 billion.

However, the number of Chinese visitors dropped sharply from the record-high of 6.02 million in 2019 to 227,358 last year.

The recovery has been visible this year, with 546,393 Chinese tourists already visiting Korea between January and June. The figure marks an increase of more than seven times from the same period last year and is forecast to rise further with the influx of group tourists.

In anticipation, the Seoul Metropolitan Government unveiled a set of measures to attract Chinese travelers, including the expansion of mobile payment systems like Alipay and WeChatPay in stores and restaurants, as they are more commonly used in mainland China than credit cards.

Tourist guides in Myeong-dong wear signs on their arms to indicate they can offer Mandarin interpretation services for Chinese visitors, Friday. Korea Times photo by Choi Won-suk

The city government also decided to run a special welcoming week for Chinese visitors for the first time since 2019.

The special week runs from Sept. 29 to Oct. 6, which coincides with the Mid-Autumn Festival and National Day ― China's largest holiday season ― when a greater number of Chinese are expected to travel to Korea, and will feature a variety of events including drone shows over the Han River, a fireworks festival and event booths at airports and city landmarks, including Myeong-dong and Gwanghwamun.

The city government also instructed Seoul's seven special tourism zones ― Jongno, Dongdaemun, Itaewon, Hongdae, Gangnam, Jamsil and Myeong-dong ― to indicate prices at stores to prevent overcharging tourists.

A street in the Myeong-dong shopping area of downtown Seoul teems with locals and foreign visitors, Friday. Korea Times photo by Choi Won-suk