Korea’s travel industry is in full bloom despite the global economic slowdown, thanks to the weaker yen and tumbling oil prices pushing people for overseas travels, along with the Chinese tourist influx that has been around for a while.
According to Yonhap and industry reports, HanaTour, the country’s largest tourist agency, sold a total of 610,296 overseas travel packages between January and March. This is some 23.9 percent up from 492,385 in the same period last year.
As a result, the company achieved record sales of 119.2 billion won, the highest in the company’s history, from the previous 93.7 billion won. Its operating profit also rose to 16.8 billion won from 9.1 billion won.
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| Chinese tourists enter a shop in Myeong-dong, Seoul. (Yonhap) |
“We are expecting a double-digit growth this year,” a HanaTour spokesman said.
The same performance was also displayed by the No. 2 player in the market, Mode Tour Network, which sold 334,953 overseas travel packages, generating 50.5 billion won in sales and 6.5 billion won in operating profit ― the highest for the company so far.
Many insiders point to the growing number of travelers to Japan as the biggest reason. Thanks to the weaker yen ― 100 yen goes for 919.4 won as of Thursday morning ― more people feel comfortable visiting the neighboring country.
Song Young-eun, 33, was one of them. She took her mother to Fukuoka via HanaTour and said she was satisfied. “I didn’t want to miss the chance of cherishing that opportunity. I especially enjoyed shopping. The same items are much cheaper there now,” she said.
Another 38-year-old office worker Seo Ji-eun said she is planning to go to Japan in August. “I will be a fool to not take advantage of the weaker yen,” she said.
The falling oil prices also prompt more people to enjoy overseas trips. HanaTour sold a total of 327,605 international flight tickets between January and March, up 40.3 percent from the same period last year.
“The fact that more carriers including domestic budget airlines are adding international routes is fueling an intense discount competition,” an insider at a budget airlines company was quoted as telling Yonhap.
Meanwhile, the soaring number of foreign tourists, mostly Chinese, is vitalizing the local economy.
The government aims to attract 7.2 million Chinese tourists this year, the lion’s share of 15.5 million foreigners expected to visit. The visa-free entry to the southern island of Jejudo and other perks will fuel more tourists to visit Korea, experts say.
The Korea Tourism Organization estimates that 14 million foreign visitors to Korea in 2014 brought in 33 trillion won-worth economic effects.
By Bae Ji-sook (baejisook@heraldcorp.com)
