Interpark, Overseas Travel Package Reservations Up "Recovering to Pre-COVID Levels"

353% Year-on-Year and 20% Month-on-Month Increase... Overseas Travel 'Recovery Trend'

On the first day Japan resumed visa-free (visa exemption) tourism, Harajuku, the fashion street in Shibuya Ward, Tokyo, was crowded with people. The Japanese government reinstated visa-free entry for 68 countries and regions, including South Korea, and also lifted the daily entry limit, which had been maintained at around 50,000 people. Photo by EPA, Yonhap News


? Yonhap News

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Heeyoon] Interpark announced on the 5th that sales of overseas travel package products increased by 353% compared to the same period last year.

Interpark explained that this figure exceeds 20% compared to the previous month and 1% compared to November 2019 before COVID-19, indicating a complete recovery to pre-pandemic levels.

The ranking of popular travel countries for package products showed Vietnam (20%) as the highest. It was followed by Japan (15%), the Philippines (10%), Thailand (9%), and Turkey (3%). As the overseas travel market reopens and the winter travel season approaches, traditional popular destinations such as Southeast Asia and Japan ranked high.

In particular, Japan package products showed an explosive increase of 33,114% compared to the previous month. This is attributed to the Japanese government allowing visa-free independent travel from October 11 and the historically weak yen value. The most preferred city for Japan package tours was Sapporo (38%), followed by Fukuoka (32%), Osaka (20%), Tokyo (8%), and Okinawa (2%).

Yeom Soonchan, head of Interpark Tour Package Group, said, "In preparation for a surge in travel demand in the endemic era, we quickly recovered to pre-COVID levels through the development of various package products and optimization technology for recommendations," adding, "We will maximize overseas travelers' satisfaction with differentiated products and reasonable prices."