Shorter Chuseok sends Koreans nearby as Asian travelers flock to Korea

A shorter Chuseok holiday this year is pushing Korean travelers toward nearby overseas destinations and smaller cities at home, while overlapping holidays across Asia are driving more international visitors to Korea, according to online travel platform Trip.com.

Trip.com released its latest travel trend report, based on an analysis of domestic and international travel bookings made for Chuseok and other major holiday periods across Asia in September and October.

This year's Chuseok holiday runs from Thursday to Sunday, shorter than the roughly weeklong break from Oct. 3 to 9 last year.

With less time to travel, Koreans are opting for closer destinations, with Japan the top overseas choice for the Chuseok holiday, according to Trip.com booking data. By city, Osaka, Fukuoka and Tokyo took the top three spots, followed by Vietnam's Da Nang and Nha Trang and China's Shanghai.

For those staying in Korea, Busan saw the highest demand based on hotel bookings, followed by Seogwipo and Jeju City on Jeju Island; Gwangju; Seoul; Incheon; Sokcho in Gangwon; Gyeongju in North Gyeongsang; and Gangneung and Yangyang in Gangwon.

Smaller destinations, however, also saw notable increases in hotel bookings compared to last year, including Iksan in North Jeolla; Asan and Cheonan in South Chungcheong; Gochang in North Jeolla; and Yangpyeong in Gyeonggi.

Meanwhile, travel to Korea during the Chuseok holiday was led by nearby Asian markets. China, Japan, Taiwan and Singapore were among the top countries based on flight reservations, while Australia ranked eighth and Britain 10th.

Other holidays falling in September and October across Asia are helping bring more travelers to Korea.

During Japan's holiday period from Sept. 19 to Wednesday, Korea ranked as the most popular overseas destination, according to flight bookings made through Trip.com's Japanese platform, with the average daily number of flight bookings to Korea increasing about 57 percent from the same period last year.

Travel demand for Korea is also strong during the Chinese National Day holiday from Oct. 1 to 7. Seoul ranked first among global destinations by flight bookings, up about 91 percent year on year. Among Taiwanese travelers, Busan ranked fourth, ahead of Seoul in fifth. Jeju also ranked among the top destinations for travelers from Hong Kong at fifth, mainland China at seventh and Singapore at ninth.

Interest in Korea is also extending beyond the country's best-known destinations.

The Korean cities most frequently searched by overseas travelers on Trip.com were Seoul, Busan, Jeju, Incheon, Seogwipo, Gyeongju, Daegu, Gwangju, Gangneung and Cheongju.

Hotel bookings also showed steep year-on-year growth in lesser-known cities including Asan, Changwon, Cheongju, Gumi, Yeongwol, Samcheok and Goyang, indicating that international travelers are increasingly looking beyond major tourist hubs to smaller regional cities.

“This Chuseok, with the holiday period being somewhat shorter, there has been a noticeable trend of demand for short-distance travel using annual leave and local trips to enjoy quiet rest in small domestic cities,” said Hong Jong-min, head of Trip.com Korea.

“At the same time, driven by the Asian holiday season, demand for foreign visitors to Korea is also increasing. We will continue to strive to increase local travel interest by offering diverse combined products and benefits that connect global travelers with domestic tourist destinations."

BY WOO JI-WON [[email protected]]