Sharp Increase in Foot Traffic from April
Recovery Measures by Seoul City and Yongsan-gu Show Effectiveness
The Itaewon commercial district, which was hit hard by the COVID-19 pandemic and the Itaewon tragedy in October last year, is showing signs of recovery.
On the 11th, the Seoul Metropolitan Government announced that after implementing the 'Itaewon Area Daily Recovery Measures' for about three months, both foot traffic and sales showed signs of recovery.
According to an analysis based on Shinhan Card sales and local gift certificate usage conducted by Seoul City, the foot traffic in Itaewon 1-dong in May (based on KT telecom data) recovered to 75.6% compared to the fourth week of October last year, just before the tragedy.
This figure steadily increased from 71.9% in February to 72.6% in March, 74.9% in April, and 75.6% in May.
After the tragedy, foot traffic in Itaewon 1-dong dropped to about half. In the first quarter, the average daily number of passengers boarding and alighting at Itaewon Station was 17,675, about 10% less than the average daily figure for the entire last year (19,370).
Sales in November last year also plummeted to about 30%, and recovery remained at around 52% until February this year. However, as spring arrived and foot traffic increased, it rose to near pre-tragedy levels through March (98.2%) and April (93.4%).
Seoul City analyzed that this reflects the effect of the Itaewon Commercial District Recovery Gift Certificates issued to aid the recovery of the Itaewon area commercial district.
The Itaewon Commercial District Recovery Gift Certificates, specially issued twice in January and March this year, sold a total of 32.6 billion KRW, with 18 billion KRW used for payments as of the end of May.
Additionally, Yongsan-gu, Seoul City, and the Ministry of SMEs and Startups have focused on revitalizing the commercial district by operating cultural, performance, and exhibition programs to promote Itaewon tourism since social distancing was fully lifted this spring, as well as implementing support projects for small business owners.
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