The number of Chinese tourists entering Korea did not increase significantly as expected. Expectations were high that Chinese travel to Korea would surge due to visa-free entry for Chinese group tourists and a spillover effect from China-Japan tensions, but analysts say the impact on tourist inflows was limited because visa-free entry is premised on group travel and long-haul and independent travel are popular in China.
According to the Ministry of Justice on the 23rd, since conditional visa-free measures for Chinese group tourists took effect on Sept. 29, 425,453 and 331,698 Chinese nationals entered Korea in October and November, respectively. Those figures were up 23.1% and 18.7% from a year earlier, but were similar to the levels before the visa-free measures. Looking at the growth rate of Chinese entrants from January to September this year (year-over-year), the figure jumped to 34% in January, then was sluggish in February to March, before posting around 20% growth in April to May. From June to September, the growth rates were 18.6%, 21%, 14.4% and 15.1%, respectively, not much different from October to November.
A compilation of passenger status data by ChosunBiz from Korea Airports Corporation (KAC) and Incheon International Airport Corporation (IIAC) shows that flights from China to Korea did not increase much either. In October and November, 5,581 and 4,995 passenger flights departed China and arrived in Korea, up 4.2% and 6.3% year-over-year, respectively. However, this fell short of the growth rate in August (8.4%), before the visa-free entry for Chinese group tourists. October included the Golden Week holiday (1–8), one of China's biggest holidays, but there was no notable effect.
Tough visa-free conditions are cited as a major reason. According to the government, for a Chinese national to enter Korea visa-free, the traveler must be part of a group of three or more recruited by a designated travel agency at home or abroad approved by the Ministry of Justice, and may stay for up to 15 days. Travel agencies must upload the list of tourists, their accommodations and passport information to the Hi Korea website (run by the Ministry of Justice's Korea Immigration Service) at least 24 hours before entry to have them screened for whether they fall into a high-risk category. The high-risk category includes those with a history of illegal stay, violators of the Immigration Act, and individuals wanted by Interpol. If they pass screening, the tourists must enter and exit as a group on the same flight.
A Chinese office worker in her 20s surnamed Liu said, "I had dreamed of traveling to Korea since before the COVID-19 pandemic, but the visa issuance process was cumbersome, so I couldn't go," and added, "After hearing that visa-free entry had begun, I looked into independent travel but had to go on a group tour through a travel agency, so I postponed my plans. I think I'll go if the visa-free requirements are eased a bit more."
A shift in overseas travel trends among Chinese travelers is also being detected. According to the industry, long-haul and independent travel trends stand out in China. According to the local travel platform Tongcheng, the most popular overseas destinations during the Mid-Autumn Festival and Golden Week holidays from September to October were Tunisia, Japan, Spain, Vietnam and New Zealand. Popular hotel destinations included Saudi Arabia, Egypt, New Zealand, Kazakhstan and the United Arab Emirates. Another platform, Qunar, also showed its top 10 countries by booking increases were focused on long-haul: Sweden, Italy, Norway, Kenya, Vietnam, Uzbekistan, Saudi Arabia, Mongolia, South Africa and Egypt. Inquiries for trips to Europe are surging for next year's longest-ever Lunar New Year holiday, and search volumes have doubled for Greece, Norway, Iceland, Serbia, Spain and the United Kingdom.