Summer Peak-Level Crowds... Nationwide Hotels and Resorts Fully Booked During Hangeul Day Holiday

On the 28th, two days before the Chuseok holiday, the domestic terminal at Gimpo Airport in Gangseo-gu, Seoul, is bustling with travelers. Photo by Mun Ho-nam munonam@

[Asia Economy Reporter Seungjin Lee] During the Hangul Day holiday, hotels and resorts at major tourist destinations nationwide are experiencing full occupancy. During last week's Chuseok holiday, the number of people choosing a "Chukangseu" (holiday staycation) instead of returning home increased, leading the hotel industry to record its busiest season of the year.

According to the hotel industry on the 9th, all room reservations for this weekend (9th to 11th) at Jeju Shilla Hotel located in Jungmun, Seogwipo City, Jeju, were fully booked by early this week. During the same period, Shilla Stay Jeju, a business hotel located in Jeju City, also has all rooms fully booked, indicating an overflow of tourists visiting Jeju Island during the holiday.

The major resorts on Jeju Island are no different. Jeju Art Villas, operated by Lotte Resort, offers high-priced room packages ranging from a minimum of 500,000 KRW to a maximum of 1,800,000 KRW per night, yet all rooms are fully booked. Following a 90% reservation rate during last Chuseok, there is currently only one room left available for reservation during the Hangul Day holiday.

Not only famous hotels and resorts but also guesthouses and pensions are fully booked to the point that they are no longer accepting reservations. Reservations for guesthouses and pensions near Aewol-eup and Woljeong-ri during the holiday period have already ended.

According to Jeju Island and the Jeju Tourism Association, more than 95,000 tourists are expected to visit Jeju over the three days from the 9th to the 11th. This averages about 31,500 visitors per day, similar to the daily number of tourists who visited Jeju during the Chuseok holiday from the 26th of last month to the 4th of this month.

Outside Jeju Island, major tourist destinations nationwide are also seeing an influx of tourists during the holiday. Lotte Resorts in Sokcho and Buyeo have fully booked all rooms for this holiday as they did during last Chuseok. Additionally, all major pensions and camping sites nationwide are fully booked, attracting more travelers than during the summer vacation season in July and August.

The hotel industry is recording its busiest season of the year with many customers flocking during Hangul Day following the Chuseok holiday, but remains cautious due to concerns over the spread of COVID-19. A hotel industry official explained, "We did not conduct any special marketing related to the Hangul Day holiday due to concerns about the spread of COVID-19," adding, "We will do our best to ensure customers can enjoy their holidays safely through thorough quarantine measures."

Meanwhile, as the number of travelers surges, quarantine authorities have raised the alert level. Jeju Island has decided to continue COVID-19 diagnostic testing for travelers showing fever symptoms upon arrival until the 11th. Busan, which saw many new cases during the holiday period, has designated an entire building as a special quarantine zone, tightening quarantine measures. Gangwon Province, which had no new confirmed cases locally during the holiday, plans to continue restrictions on high-risk facility operations for the time being.