While the issuance of short-term visas for Chinese has been released, the domestic tourism industry is cautious, saying, “There are many mountains to overcome,” but they expect the Chinese market to enter a recovery phase within the first half of the year.
According to the Central Disaster and Safety Countermeasure Headquarters on the 10th, the South Korean government will resume issuance of short-term visas for diplomatic missions in China from the 11th.
Earlier, when Corona 19 re-proliferated in China at the end of last year, the Korean government restricted the issuance of short-term visas and additional flights for travelers from China on the 2nd of last month. In addition, measures were taken such as requiring the submission of PCR negative results conducted within 48 hours of entry.
An official from a travel agency dedicated to China said, “We expect the number of Chinese tourists to rise to the pre-COVID-19 level during the summer vacation after May’s Labor Day.”
However, there are still several restrictions in order to accommodate Chinese tourists. First of all, the mandatory PCR test for entrants from China is maintained, and it is expected that it will take time to recover the air route between Korea and China.
In addition, China has excluded South Korea from the 20 countries that allow group tours in retaliation for the South Korean government’s restrictions on visa issuance.
Accordingly, while the industry expects to be able to attract tourists in earnest within the first half of the year, it is urgent to improve the acceptance posture as soon as possible.
Seo Dae-hoon, director of the Korea Travel Agency Association, said, “The problem is that accommodation facilities, tour buses, and restaurants are not as active as they were before COVID-19.” can suffer,” he said.
Lee Hyun-jin, head of the China team at the Korea Tourism Organization, said, “We are re-adjusting the business schedule related to the resumption of the Chinese market.”
The government is in a position to continue to collect opinions from the industry. To this end, meetings are being prepared for the tourism industry, such as travel and lodging.
An official from the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism said, “First of all, we will provide support for the Chinese travel agency to return to work,” and “We will conduct a familiarization tour with Chinese media, influencers, and tour operators so that tourism products can be developed well.” .
Source: Donga
Mark Jones is a world traveler and journalist for News Rebeat. With a curious mind and a love of adventure, Mark brings a unique perspective to the latest global events and provides in-depth and thought-provoking coverage of the world at large.