Overseas Travel Demand Increased Sixfold This Year... Popular Destinations Are Southeast Asia and Japan

About 80% of Total Traveler Demand
Overseas Travel This Year Surges 62% Compared to Last Year

There is growing optimism that the surge in overseas travel demand following the end of the COVID-19 pandemic will continue steadily next year, especially on short-haul routes such as Japan and Southeast Asia.

According to Hana Tour on the 12th, the number of overseas travel reservations made by customers of the travel agency from January this year to last month reached 1.2 million, a 621% increase compared to last year.

The travel demand was driven by short-haul routes such as Southeast Asia and Japan. Among every 10 reservation customers, 8 headed to Southeast Asia and Japan. Southeast Asia accounted for 50%, followed by Japan (28%), Europe (9%), and China (6%).

Incheon Airport bustling with travelers earlier this year

Since the resumption of travel to China earlier this year, the number of travelers heading to China has also rapidly increased. During the same period, reservations for trips to China surged by 1870%.

Meanwhile, the regions recording the highest number of overseas package sales this year were Kyushu in Japan and Da Nang in Vietnam.

In home shopping as well, an increase in overseas travel demand has been observed. According to 'GS Shop,' operated by GS Retail, the number of travel product orders (reservation consultations) at the home shopping channel until the end of November this year increased by 87% compared to the same period last year. It has also recovered to about 80% of the level before COVID-19 in 2019.

While overseas travel this year showed a trend of 'revenge consumption' due to the sudden explosion of suppressed demand during the COVID-19 period, there is also anticipation that 'the normalization of overseas travel' will resume next year.

Earlier, Jeju Airport conducted a survey from the 30th of last month to the 5th of this month targeting 3,010 people, and 9 out of 10 respondents said they are 'planning overseas travel next year.'