Even If They Can't Go to Their Hometown, 200,000 People Visit Jeju

"Chuseok is the Biggest Challenge" Requests to Refrain from Holiday Visits Lead to Giving Up Returning Home
Summer Peak-Level Arrivals... Hotels in Busan and Gangwon Already Fully Booked

Tourists arriving at Jeju International Airport are wearing masks and heading to the parking lot. The photo is not directly related to the article.
Photo by Yonhap News

[Asia Economy Reporters Hye-seon Lim and Dong-hoon Jung] #Son Jun-gi (32, pseudonym), an office worker from Changnyeong, Gyeongnam, is going to Jeju Island instead of his hometown during this year's Chuseok holiday. Due to the resurgence of COVID-19, health authorities have advised refraining from visiting hometowns, and his parents also urged him not to come home. However, since staying at home all the time is not an option, he decided to use this opportunity as a vacation.

As the trend of a 'contactless Chuseok' takes hold, more people are planning trips taking advantage of this social atmosphere. According to the tourism and hotel industry on the 18th, the Jeju Tourism Association expects about 200,000 people to visit Jeju from the Chuseok holiday period starting on the 30th of this month until the 4th of next month. This means about 40,000 people arrive daily, which is similar to the summer peak season. Flight reservation rates on routes from Gimpo and Gimhae to Jeju are recorded at 80-90%.

Luxury hotels in Jeju are also seeing soaring room reservation rates. Jeju Shilla Hotel and Lotte Hotel in Jungmun, Seogwipo City, Jeju, currently have room reservation rates of 70-80% from the 30th to the 4th of next month. The hotel industry expects that by next week (September 21-27), rooms in luxury hotels will be fully booked. Not only luxury hotels but also popular guesthouses are unable to accept reservations due to lack of rooms. Reservations for guesthouses near Aewol-eup and Woljeong-ri during the holiday period have already ended. Merchants in Jeju are glad to see tourists returning but are also concerned about the spread of COVID-19 within Jeju. Jeong Hong-tae (43), who runs a cafe near Moseulpo Port in Jeju, said, "We plan to thoroughly implement disinfection measures inside the store and welcome customers."

The decision to take a flight to Jeju instead of a train to the hometown was also influenced by the government's easing of social distancing to level 2. This indicates a lowered psychological barrier regarding infection concerns. Citizens who are refraining from visiting their hometowns and trying to strictly follow quarantine rules feel frustrated by the forecasted increase in travelers. Kim Jung-soo (41), an office worker living in Mapo-gu, Seoul, said, "We all need to hold back a little and refrain together, but if many people gather at travel destinations, doesn't that undermine the purpose of the 'Don't go home' campaign?"

Experts are also worried that the increase in interregional movement may lead to a resurgence of COVID-19 spread after Chuseok. Professor Cheon Eun-mi of the Respiratory Medicine Department at Ewha Mokdong Hospital said, "The COVID-19 virus has a strong transmission power that inevitably spreads when people gather," adding, "Although the daily new confirmed cases have somewhat decreased recently, leading to underestimation of the seriousness, it would be better for quarantine purposes to go to one's hometown rather than to resorts where many unspecified people gather."