According to travel site Travel Tomorrow, Asian countries have eased travel restrictions due to the Covid-19 pandemic, but the progress is slower than in other continents, which has somewhat slowed down the recovery of tourism.
China has also recently ended its zero-Covid policy and neighboring countries have seen a greater demand for Chinese tourists during the Lunar New Year holiday. A recent report from Phocuswright suggests that the recovery of tourism in Asian countries will not take long. The analysis looked at Northeast Asia, with South Korea in particular showing a resurgence in tourism with increased demand for online services.
Illustration photo. Source: Yonhap
Looking at the total number of bookings in 2021, South Korea clearly leads the pack as a travel destination in the region. Looking at the share of online bookings, the difference becomes even more apparent. The country accounted for 61% of all online bookings made in Northeast Asia in 2021.
“While severe travel restrictions and a lack of Chinese tourists pose challenges for the region, the downturn is not expected to be long-lasting. Going forward, the tourism industry can be optimistic as the return of Chinese tourists and improved air connectivity across Asia-Pacific markets will increase arrivals from other markets,” Phocuswright said, predicting that tourism revenues in Northeast Asia will surpass pre-pandemic levels in 2023.
The analysis also found that smartphones are increasingly being used to help travelers book their holidays in advance. While mobile online bookings peaked in 2021, the report predicts that smartphone app usage will continue to grow, “easily” surpassing 2019 levels this year and more than doubling the 2019 record by 2025.
"The smartphone travel industry will continue to grow in Korea. Domestic online travel brands such as Good Choice, Yanolja, MyRealTrip and Tidesquare have invested wisely in technology during the pandemic to attract large domestic bookings and prepare for the upcoming hot international travel trend," Phocuswright emphasized.
South Korea is focusing on developing tourism services on digital platforms as part of its plan to attract 30 million foreign tourists by 2027. After reopening to international tourism on April 1, 2022, the Korea Tourism Organization (KTO) announced measures including easing travel-related restrictions to attract 30 million tourists by 2027, as borders around the world are reopening.
Through digital tourism platform services and storytelling tourism programs with content in Korea, including cities such as Gyeongju, Jeju, Suwon, Busan, Chuncheon and of course the capital Seoul, the Korean tourism industry hopes to grow further in the coming years.
In addition, KTO also announced plans to cooperate with metaverse platform Zepeto to design "Korean Tourism Village World" according to 8 different tourism themes.
