South Korea prepares to welcome wave of tourists from China

A wave of Chinese tourists is expected by the Korean tourism industry, as from September 29, 2024 to June 30, 2026, Chinese tourists in groups of three or more and operated by designated travel agencies will be allowed to enter Korea without a visa for up to 15 days. On South Korea's Jeju Island, the visa-free policy for up to 30 days for both independent and group visitors will remain in place.

Hàn Quốc chuẩn bị đón làn sóng du khách từ Trung Quốc - Ảnh 1. — Bustling tourist shopping district in Seoul, South Korea.

The move coincides with a major week-long holiday (October 1-7), one of China's busiest travel periods, and is seen as a test of the visa-free policy's impact. The South Korean government hopes the policy will attract an additional 1 million Chinese tourists by June 2025, part of efforts to boost international arrivals.

The number of Chinese tourists to South Korea is expected to increase sharply later this year and early 2026. Many South Korean businesses, including hotels, resorts, department stores and duty-free retailers, are stepping up marketing campaigns to attract Chinese customers.

Shilla Duty Free has prepared promotions for passengers on the Dream, a large cruise ship from Tianjin, China, which docked at Incheon on September 29, with gifts and discounts of up to 60% on popular cosmetics products. Lotte Department Store has launched a gift program for Chinese customers at its flagship store, while Amorepacific Group plans to open additional Sulwhasoo stores at Incheon International Airport.

Hàn Quốc chuẩn bị đón làn sóng du khách từ Trung Quốc - Ảnh 2. — Incheon International Airport in South Korea. Source: Yonhap

In addition, many Korean airlines are actively increasing flights to China, welcoming the expected sharp increase in tourist groups from China thanks to the visa exemption policy. For low-cost airlines, the return of group tourists from China will be an important turning point in revenue in the second half of this year. Before the Covid-19 pandemic, flights to China accounted for 10-20% of passenger revenue of Korean airlines, thanks to high fares compared to the distance and stable demand from group flights.

Korean Air plans to increase the number of weekly flights to China from 194 in October last year to 203 in October this year. The airline has resumed Incheon-Kunming and Busan-Qingdao routes, and launched a new Incheon-Fuzhou route in December 2024 with four flights a week.

Asiana Airlines will increase its weekly flights to China by 26 from the end of March 2025, currently operating 18 routes with 164 flights per week. The airline has resumed flights to Chongqing and Chengdu, and increased flight frequencies on some routes from South Korea to Dalian, Zhuangsha, Yanji, Changchun, etc.

South Korean budget airlines are targeting less competitive routes or smaller cities in China. Jeju Air launched a four-flight-a-week Busan-Shanghai route on July 25 and will launch a new four-flight-a-week Incheon-Guilin route on October 1. It will also increase the frequency of its Incheon-Weihai route in September.

Jin Air resumed Incheon-Qingdao flights in May with a frequency of 6 flights/week and is preparing to launch Incheon-Guilin route later this year. Eastar Jet restarted Jeju-Shanghai route and added a new Incheon-Yantai route this September.

Air Busan has increased the frequency of the Busan - Zhangjiajie route from 4 flights to 6 flights/week, resumed the Busan - Xi'an route and plans to operate charter flights to Guilin with 2 flights/week for about 2 months, starting from the end of October, to attract group tourists from Southern China.

According to the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport, more than 7.8 million passengers traveled on flights between South Korea and China in the first half of this year, up 24.4 percent from 6.17 million passengers a year earlier.

Source: https://bvhttdl.gov.vn/han-quoc-chuan-bi-don-lan-song-du-khach-tu-trung-quoc-2025092909523747.htm