Chinese State Media "Zhong Tourism's Appeal Increases"
News of a surge in Korean tourists visiting China has been repeatedly mentioned on Chinese social networking services (SNS), drawing attention.
According to China's Global Times (GT) on the 26th, the hashtag '900% increase in Korean tourists visiting China' has been gaining popularity on the local SNS Weibo. The day before, China Central Television (CCTV) reported that the number of tourists visiting China in January this year exceeded 140,000, marking a 908% increase compared to the same period last year. CCTV stated, "As the tourism market recovers, the departure hall of Terminal 1 at Incheon International Airport is crowded with people, and all counters are busy," adding, "There are long lines at the check-in counters for flights to China, with many Koreans standing in line."
GT explained, "To respond to the exchange of people between the two countries and meet the travel demand of Koreans to China, airlines are gradually resuming suspended routes such as Incheon-Zhengzhou and Busan-Xi'an," adding, "Korean Air's Incheon-Zhangjiajie route, which was suspended due to the COVID-19 pandemic, has resumed operations after four years."
It also introduced Zhangjiajie as a popular tourist destination among Koreans. GT reported, "In Korea, there is a saying, 'If you want to show filial piety to your parents, send them on a trip to Zhangjiajie,'" and added, "Since early this year, 66% of travelers under 60 years old have booked Zhangjiajie tour packages." It noted, "In the past, there was high demand for enjoying natural scenery, but from this year, urban tourism demand has increased, with more Koreans choosing Shanghai, Qingdao, and Yantai." Additionally, it introduced that travel agencies are developing Hainan travel packages, which allow visa-free entry, recently.
According to Chinese travel agency Ctrip, inbound travel ticket reservations during this year's Lunar New Year period surged by 819% compared to the previous year, and inbound travel orders increased by more than 1000% during the same period. Visitors mainly came from Japan, the United States, Korea, Malaysia, Australia, the United Kingdom, and Canada. Popular tourist destinations included Shanghai, Beijing, Guangzhou, Shenzhen, Chengdu, and Harbin. From the 1st to the 20th of this month, 1,871 foreigners entered Beijing through the 144-hour visa-free transit, marking a 2,611% increase compared to the same period last year.
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