A full 7-day holiday, one day longer than Lunar New Year
Round-trip tickets to New York soar up to 2.32 million KRW
As office workers added annual leave to enjoy the longest Lunar New Year holiday of up to 9 days, attention is already turning to this year's Chuseok holiday.
This year's Chuseok holiday falls from October 6 to 8. Starting with National Foundation Day on the 3rd (Friday) of the same month, followed by the weekend (4th-5th), and Hangeul Day on the 9th, the day after the Chuseok holiday, there will be a minimum of 7 consecutive days off. Additionally, if one takes annual leave on the 10th (Friday), they can have a total of 10 days off including the following weekend.
According to industry sources on the 2nd, the number of travelers passing through Incheon International Airport during this Lunar New Year holiday is expected to be the highest ever. It is anticipated that the number of travelers passing through Incheon International Airport during the holiday will be the greatest in history. It is estimated that 1.34 million travelers will depart overseas during this Lunar New Year holiday.
Travelers visiting Incheon International Airport Terminal 1 on the 24th, ahead of the Lunar New Year holiday including a temporary public holiday, are lining up to get their tickets. Incheon International Airport Corporation announced that during the special traffic control period for this Lunar New Year holiday, from the 24th to the 2nd of next month, a total of 2,141,000 passengers, averaging 214,000 passengers per day, are expected to use Incheon Airport.
This year's Chuseok holiday offers a full 7-day break, which is one day longer than this year's Lunar New Year holiday that included a temporary holiday (designated on the 27th of last month). Because of this, the industry expects travel demand to surge again during the Chuseok holiday. In particular, demand for long-distance destinations such as the Americas and Europe is expected to increase.
Last year, despite the Chuseok holiday period being shorter than the previous year (2023), overseas travel demand increased significantly. According to the Yanolja platform, the number of overseas flight and accommodation bookings rose by 157% and 140%, respectively.
The industry analyzed that the prolonged record-breaking heatwave last year likely caused travel demand for late vacations to concentrate during the Chuseok holiday as well.
Competition for airline ticket reservations during the long holiday is also fierce. Since immediately after last year's Chuseok holiday ended, inquiries for this year's Chuseok travel reservations have continued, and popular flight routes are already sold out.
On the 24th, ahead of the Lunar New Year holiday including the temporary public holiday, Incheon International Airport Terminal 1 duty-free zone was crowded with travelers. Incheon International Airport Corporation announced that during the special traffic control period for this Lunar New Year holiday, from the 24th to the 2nd of next month, a total of 2,141,000 passengers, averaging 214,000 passengers per day, are expected to use Incheon Airport.
Since airline ticket prices fluctuate according to demand, prices have more than doubled compared to usual. Round-trip tickets from Incheon to New York, which normally cost between 600,000 and 800,000 KRW, have surged up to 2,320,000 KRW, increasing by 250% during the Chuseok holiday period.
Accordingly, the travel industry is expected to introduce charter flight packages or offer segmented products by destination and travel type to secure travel demand during the Chuseok holiday.
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