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Faced with a sharp decline in Chinese tourists, the South Korean tourism industry is planning to attract visitors from neighboring countries and Southeast Asian nations, including Vietnam.
Chinese tourists accounted for nearly half of the 16 million foreign visitors to South Korea in 2016, but this year saw a 21.9% decrease compared to the same period last year (March 1-19), according to the latest figures from the South Korean Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism. Additionally, only about 200,000 Southeast Asian tourists visited South Korea in 2016, according to Korea Portal.
The decline occurred after Chinese tourists boycotted tours to South Korea. This was part of a retaliatory plan against South Korea's decision to deploy the Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) missile defense system. Additionally, many South Korean popular culture products were banned from import, and numerous Lotte stores in China were forced to close.
"It's time for us to restructure South Korea's tourism industry, which has traditionally relied heavily on Chinese tourists. This hasn't been very profitable, as most Chinese tourists come here through cheap tour packages. Perhaps we would actually earn more if we addressed the inherent problems in the tourism industry," said Nam Sang-man, Director of the Seoul Tourism Association. Analysts believe the most urgent task for South Korea's tourism industry is to diversify the nationalities of its foreign visitors.
Open to Southeast Asian tourists.
On March 22, the South Korean Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism announced plans to promote South Korean tourism abroad, including establishing branches of the Korea Tourism Organization in Mongolia and Kazakhstan, and holding tourism fairs in Singapore, Japan, India, and Vietnam.
The South Korean government announced it is gradually increasing flights to and from Southeast Asian countries, as well as countries and territories such as Japan, Mongolia, and Taiwan (China), and will also allow the issuance of e-visas for Southeast Asian tourists, starting in May, according to Yonhap News. The plan was initially intended to launch in the second half of the year, according to the Korea Herald.
Specifically, South Korea will grant visa-free entry for five days to Southeast Asian tourists traveling to Jeju Island, transiting through Incheon and Gimhae airports, facilitating their visit to Seoul and other southern cities. "We've seen a recent increase in the number of Southeast Asian tourists visiting South Korea. We are rapidly implementing tourism promotion packages in the first half of this year," said Hwang Myung-seon, a senior tourism official at the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism.
The South Korean tourism industry is working to encourage domestic airlines to expand their routes to Southeast Asia and Japan, while also seeking to pave the way for them to strengthen cooperation with airlines from the Philippines, Taiwan (China), and Mongolia.
In addition, the government will allocate a special loan of 225 billion won (US$200.2 million) to help affected tourism agencies address their financial problems.
