South Korea has moved ahead in Asia’s online travel market, leaving behind Hong Kong, Taiwan and Macao regional travel markets, as the Asian country has more extensive use of online services.
According to Skift, 53 per cent of all bookings in 2021 were recorded in South Korea, ahead of all other regions, while the same represented 61 per cent of all online bookings made in Northeast Asia during this period, VisaGuide.World reports.
“While severe travel restrictions and the lack of Chinese visitors have been challenging for the region, the downturn is not expected to last. Looking forward, there is optimism regarding the return of Chinese visitors, and renewed air connectivity across Asia Pacific markets will help fuel inbound traffic from other markets as well,” a recent report from Phocuswright explains.
The same show that revenues from tourism are expected to exceed the pre-pandemic levels in 2023, as well as the online bookings that peaked in 2021, which will continue to rise and double up 2019 levels by 2025, with $11.2 billion worth of bookings.
The mobile travel trend is becoming really important in South Korea, with some online travel brands like Yanolja, Good Choice, Tidesquare and My RealTrip, investing and improving their technologies during the pandemic in an effort to prepare for international travel.
South Korea’s plan is to improve digital platforms in order to attract 30 million foreign tourists by 2027, especially after April 1, 2022, when COVID-19 measures were eased, and the country’s borders were reopened to international travellers.
Korea’s Tourism Organization (KTO) intends to achieve these goals through digital tourism platforms, services, and programs in cities like Busan, Gyeongju, Chuncheon, and Jeju City.
According to “Go With Guide”, 17.5 million people visited South Korea in 2019 – 14 percent more than in the previous year, taking tourism’s contribution to the country’s GDP to 4.16 per cent, while $21.5 billion were spent by visitors. In addition, visitors have spent an average of $1,230 individually during this time.
The average length of stay stood at 7.5 days, the same as in 2017, with 47 per cent of tourists visiting South Korea for local food tours. A total of 1.86 tons of kimchi were consumed in the country in 2019.
The tourism rates in South Korea peaked in 2022, as the number of new arrivals increased by 501.5 percent in December alone. The majority of tourists come from China, Japan, Taipei, the United States and Hong Kong, which also represented the main countries of origin for 2019, too.
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