Hong Kong Travel Agencies Cancel All Korean Tour Packages... Mongolia and Macao Flights Suspended

[Image source=AP Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Jeong Hyunjin] As the novel coronavirus infection (COVID-19) rapidly spreads in South Korea, travel agencies in Hong Kong have completely canceled Korean travel packages for next month. Mongolia and Macao have suspended flights to and from South Korea. These measures are being strengthened one after another to prevent the virus from entering their countries.

According to the South China Morning Post (SCMP) and others on the 24th, four major travel agencies in Hong Kong announced that they would cancel Korean travel packages until the end of next month. EGL Tours decided not to sell 45 travel packages for 900 people from the 25th of this month until the 31st of next month.

In addition, three other agencies?Hongtai Travel, Big Line Holiday, and Wing Won Travel?also canceled all Korean travel packages from today until the end of next month. Hongtai Travel had previously announced a suspension of Seoul-bound travel packages until the 15th of next month but expanded this to cover all of South Korea, canceling 65 travel packages for 1,300 people. Big Line Holiday will also suspend sales of 50 travel packages for 1,000 people.

The travel agencies stated, "Considering the spread of COVID-19 in South Korea, we took these measures to protect the health of our customers and employees." A total of about 3,200 customers are affected by this measure, and they can change their reservations or receive refunds within six months.

The Hong Kong government has not yet issued a travel alert for South Korea. However, through a notice, it recommended, "When traveling to countries or regions with clear community transmission of COVID-19 such as mainland China, Italy, Japan, South Korea (Daegu and Gyeongbuk), and Singapore, avoid close contact with people who have fever or respiratory symptoms."

Meanwhile, on the same day, Mongolia's National Emergency Commission announced the suspension of all flights departing from South Korea and will block entry of people coming from South Korea until the 2nd of next month. Previously, Mongolia had suspended all entries through its border with China and is implementing strict measures to prevent the spread of COVID-19, including closing schools until the end of March. So far, no confirmed COVID-19 cases have been reported in Mongolia.

Besides Mongolia, Macao airline Air Macau also announced on its website on the same day that it will completely suspend the Incheon-Macao route from the 1st to the 28th of next month. The suspended routes include two flights from Incheon International Airport to Macao and two flights from Macao to Incheon. Macao has classified South Korea as a high-risk area for COVID-19 infection since the previous day and requires people who have visited South Korea within the last 14 days to undergo quarantine at designated locations.