Zhangjiajie National Forest Park in Zhangjiajie, Central China's Hunan Province welcomes a group of South Korean photographers on January 5, 2025. Photo: VCG

Editor's Note:
The just-concluded National Day and Mid-Autumn Festival holidays saw a two-way rush in tourism between China and South Korea. After China announced a unilateral visa-waiver policy for South Korean citizens in November of 2024, South Korea this year responded by extending visa-free access to Chinese tour groups. Ahead of the 32nd APEC Economic Leaders' Meeting, in a joint interview with the Global Times and South Korea's Maeil Business Newspaper, industry insiders said that these policies would boost travel demand between the two countries.


During China's National Day and Moon Festival holidays running from October 1 to 8, Seoul's Myeong-dong again saw massive crowds of Chinese tourists. Last Wednesday, the streets in Seoul blared with Chinese visitors wearing coordinated group uniforms and displaying travel agency name tags. Cosmetic stores filled the air with K-pop music while shop assistants enthusiastically promoted products in Chinese language.

This vibrant atmosphere reflects the revival of travel exchanges between China and South Korea. Fueled by pre-holiday positive signals and active measures from both governments, the bilateral tourism market is gaining new momentum.

In September, the South Korean government announced a trial visa-free entry policy for Chinese group tourists, effective from September 29 to June 30 next year. Earlier, China announced that, starting from November 2024 it would implement a visa-waiver policy for South Korean citizens. 

Expanding two-way travel

Trip.com data showed that since China announced the short-term visa-waiver policy for South Koreans last November, as of September 11 of this year, overall travel bookings from South Korea to China have risen 131 percent, with flight and hotel bookings growing by 90 percent and 163 percent year-on-year, respectively.

During recent holidays, inbound tourists to China experienced a significant surge, with South Korea, the US, Russia, Japan and Malaysia emerging as the top source markets. Shanghai, Beijing, Hong Kong, Dalian, Qingdao and Tianjin were the major destinations for South Korean tourists. The searches for scenic natural sites like Zhangjiajie, Huangshan, and Jiuzhaigou increased by 110 percent during the holidays.

The popularity of Chinese "cultural check-in spots" such as the National Museum, the Forbidden City and Suzhou Gardens rose by more than 80 percent. The announcement of South Korea's visa-waiver policy has sparked a significant rise in interest from Chinese tourists. On Trip.com, search volume and bookings for South Korea rose sharply, with group tour orders soaring by 357 percent year-on-year.

Demands for travel products including cruises and private groups have grown up notably. This trend is expected to position middle-aged, elderly, and family tours as the new growth driver for the tourism market.

And, the demographic most interested in traveling to South Korea remains predominantly young, with the post-90s generation accounting for 33 percent, post-80s for 27 percent, and post-00s for 19 percent. 

Unlock more opportunities 

The visa-waiver policy will open up new space for bilateral economic cooperation, said Qin Jing, vice president of Trip.com Group, in a joint interview with reporters from the Global Times and South Korea's Maeil Business Newspaper.

In tourism, the policy is expected to stimulate demand for group themed tours - such as those centered on art or family travel, which revitalizes the retail, duty-free, and catering sectors. In the cultural sphere, the resonance between Chinese and Korean cultures unlocks new potential for integrated cultural tourism, exemplified by customized thematic travel experiences, according to Qin. 

According to Yonhap News Agency, the Korea Tourism Organization is working with major Chinese online travel agencies to develop new tourism products, including "K-Pop experiences," "K-drama filming location tours," "health and wellness," and "Korean culinary routes." This initiative aims to shift consumption from shopping-centric to experience-oriented.

At the same time, the South Korean government is accelerating digital transformation of its tourism services. Plans include enhancing payment convenience by integrating with Weixin Pay and Alipay, and at the same time training more Chinese-speaking guides to improve service quality. 

Data from Tencent sent to the Global Times showed that Weixin Pay transactions in South Korea ramped up by 46 percent, driven by the visa-free policies for Chinese travelers in the first five days of the National Day holidays. 

South Korean airlines are also speeding up the restoration of travel routes to China. Currently, the flight volume on the China-South Korea route has recovered to about 86 percent of pre-pandemic levels, while routes to other regions have largely returned to normal, yicai.com reported earlier, citing data from Korean Air. 

Statistics from the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport show that, in the first half of this year, passenger traffic on routes between the two countries reached 7.8 million, marking a year-on-year increase of 24.4 percent, which is significantly higher than the growth rate of overall international routes (7.1 percent). Industry observers said the resumption of flights and visa-free policies have created a positive feedback that will continue to support travel demand during the year-end travel peak season.

However, Qin noted that the China-South Korea travel market has not yet fully returned to pre-pandemic levels. Flight numbers on some routes remain limited, affecting convenience, while fully two-way visa exemption has yet to be achieved. In addition, the recovery of other destinations such as Japan and Thailand may divert some travel demand.

Qin proposed optimizing Chinese tourism market: for example, optimizing the entry experience, enhancing multilingual services and payment convenience - such as integrating South Korean payment methods to improve travel convenience for South Korean tourists, tapping into cultural resources by promoting intangible cultural heritage, folk customs, and culinary experiences to attract South Korean tourists to explore China in depth, and collaborating with South Korean tourism agencies to develop cross-regional itineraries, such as Shandong-Busan routes, to achieve shared tourism growth.

Qin suggested that South Korea should enhance its service quality by catering to the preferences of Chinese tourists - including providing multilingual services and easier payments, such as integrating Alipay and Weixin Pay, developing in-depth experiential products around themes like nature, culture, and family travel to meet the needs of younger tourists and family groups; and showcase South Korea's diverse tourism resources through social media.

Yonhap News Agency reported that the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism said that Chinese tourists have long been a major source of tourism revenue in South Korea. In 2019, spending by Chinese tourists reached $9.8 billion, accounting for 44 percent of total tourist spending by foreign visitors, making them a key consumer group. Ensuring service quality and improving the reception experience remain urgent priorities for South Korea's tourism industry.