Charter Flight Visits to Korea Six Times, 'Largest Scale' Since COVID-19
[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Heeyoon] The first large-scale medical and wellness group tourists since COVID-19 are visiting Korea.
The Korea Tourism Organization announced on the 22nd that about 800 tourists from Mongolia and Kazakhstan will visit Korea on six charter flights by September.
According to the organization, about 150 Mongolian tourists who arrived at Jeju Airport this morning will be divided among Jeju Central Hospital, WE Hospital, Jeju Halla Hospital, and Jeju Korean Hospital for health checkups. They will then visit representative tourist sites, including wellness tourism destinations, over a 4-night, 5-day itinerary.
Mongolian tourists will arrive in Jeju on five flights: two next month, and one each in August and September. Each charter flight is expected to carry about 140 people.
About 100 group tourists from Kazakhstan arriving at Incheon Airport next month will individually complete hospital schedules such as health checkups, dermatology/plastic surgery, and orthopedics before engaging in tourism activities including wellness tourism experiences.
The number of medical tourists visiting Korea reached about 500,000 until 2019 before COVID-19 but sharply declined afterward, dropping to around 130,000 last year.
The organization explained that demand for visits is increasing mainly among tourists who have previously experienced medical treatment in Korea, those who have personally booked additional treatments, and tourists who are highly interested in Korean culture and trust Korean medical technology. They also analyzed that diverse and comprehensive marketing targeting local travel agencies and potential customers during the COVID-19 period to capture overseas medical and wellness travel demand has led to these results.
Kim Baekyun, Medical Director of Jeju Central Hospital, said, "With the joint attraction with the Korea Tourism Organization, we expect a significant increase in medical tourists visiting Korea who were suppressed during the COVID-19 period. Since many decisions on visiting countries in medical tourism are made through word of mouth, this charter flight arrival will widely introduce Jeju’s excellent medical infrastructure."
Park Yonghwan, head of the Medical Wellness Team at the Korea Tourism Organization, said, "This visit will be a signal to recover to pre-COVID levels within 2 to 3 years. We will expand medical tourism visitors by promoting through online and offline fairs and briefings targeting major markets."
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