"Jeju or Southeast Asia and Japan" ... Jeju-bound trips during Lunar New Year down 7.6%

203,437 to 188,000
Travel bookings to Southeast Asia and Japan surge

During the Lunar New Year holiday period, the number of visitors to Jeju Island is expected to slightly decrease compared to last year.

On the 16th, the Jeju Tourism Association announced that from January 20 to 24, when the Lunar New Year holiday officially begins, about 188,000 tourists are expected to visit Jeju using flights and ships over the five days.

This represents a 7.6% decrease compared to the 203,437 visitors who came to Jeju during the five-day Lunar New Year holiday last year (January 29 to February 2, 2022).

[Asia Economy Photo]

By date, it is expected that 44,000 people will visit Jeju on January 20, 44,000 on the 21st, 34,000 on the 22nd, 32,000 on the 23rd, and 34,000 on the 24th, averaging about 37,600 visitors per day.

During the Lunar New Year holiday, airlines will operate 1,164 domestic flights (216,377 seats) arriving in Jeju.

Due to the expansion of international flights by each airline, domestic flights have decreased by 6.7% from 1,248 flights (244,973 seats) last year, and the number of available seats has decreased by 11.7%.

The average load factor for domestic flights during the Lunar New Year holiday is expected to be 86.4%, showing little change from last year's 86.7%.

The association explained that the reason for the expected decrease in visitors during this Lunar New Year holiday is that "domestic flights have decreased due to the deployment of aircraft to international routes, and despite inflation and high interest rates shrinking household economies, a compensatory desire for overseas travel has exploded, leading to an increase in people visiting relatively nearby Southeast Asian countries or Japan."

"Let's go to Southeast Asia and Japan during the Lunar New Year"… Reservations surge by 7000%

[Image source=Yonhap News]

In fact, travel demand during the Lunar New Year holiday appears to be concentrated on Southeast Asia and Japan.

Hana Tour analyzed package tour reservation status for departures between January 20 and 24, the Lunar New Year holiday period, and reported that as of the 9th, about 15,000 people had made reservations.

This is a 7,015% increase compared to last year's Lunar New Year holiday. Compared to the Lunar New Year holiday just before the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, it has recovered to about 52% of that level.

By region, Southeast Asia accounted for the largest share at 54%, followed by Japan at 30%, and Europe at 7%.

In Southeast Asia, Vietnam (36%), Thailand (17%), and the Philippines (12%) ranked highest.

Japan showed a balanced distribution among Northern Kyushu, Osaka, and Hokkaido.