2024 RT Amination Banner.gif

China Daily

Asia Pacific> Eye on Asia> Content
Monday, April 06, 2020, 17:06
Resilience needed to overcome challenges facing tourism in S. Korea
By YANG HAN
Monday, April 06, 2020, 17:06 By YANG HAN

Electric screens about precautions against the COVID-19 illness are seen in a subway train in Seoul, South Korea, April 6, 2020. (AHN YOUNG-JOON / AP)

Home-sharing business owner Song Ziyu in Seoul first felt the impact of COVID-19 toward the end of January, after receiving a call from a guest in China, who asked to cancel the booking.

“The guest said he was having a fever and could not come,” said Song. “Since then, I kept receiving requests for cancellation and now I don’t have any bookings for the coming months.”

Usually the booking rate will be around 80 to 90 percent in late and around the beginning of the year. But now the business has come to a halt 

Song Ziyu, home-sharing business owner in Seoul

Expecting many tourists for the winter peak season, Song, who is from East China’s Jiangsu province, had been running the business since 2014 in Seoul’s Dongdaemun district, a popular shopping destination for tourists.

“Usually the booking rate will be around 80 to 90 percent in late and around the beginning of the year. But now the business has come to a halt,” said Song, adding that he now suffers losses in tens of thousands of yuan per months.

Yet Song considers himself lucky as he still has short rental clients from Chinese students or employees in Seoul. “If the situation continues, I think only a few home-sharing businesses can survive,” he said.

“Business (in the tourism industry) has dropped by around 90 percent,” said a spokesperson of the Korea Association of Travel Agents (KATA) in an interview. 

Noting the entire tourism industry is being hit hard by the COVID-19 epidemic, the spokesperson said inbound, outbound and domestic tourism have all been suspended from normal operations due to lack of bookings.

South Korea has had over 9,800 COVID-19 infections as of April 1, according to local media Yonhap News Agency. Around 130 countries and territories have imposed an entry ban or stricter quarantine measures for travelers from South Korea by mid-March.

Starting from April 1, all travelers entering South Korea from overseas, including Korean nationals, must undergo a two-week quarantine as the nation tightens up its measures to curb imported cases, according to Xinhua.

Data from the Korea Hotel Association (KHA) indicates that cancelled bookings at 44 major hotels in South Korea have resulted in combined losses of 83.5 billion won (US$70 million) this year, according to a report by local media Korea JoongAng Daily.

Across South Korea, which has 1,883 hotels in total, the average occupancy rate is less than 10 percent, a huge decline compared with over 70 percent last March. According to KHA the country’s hospitality sector is estimated to lose at least 580 billion won in March.

“The level of impact is incomparably more serious than that of the outbreak of Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) in 2003 and Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS) in 2015,” said KATA’s spokesperson.

While SARS was mainly contained within China, it had little effect on South Korea’s inbound and outbound tourism, and MERS cases in South Korea only covered a short period with limited impact comparatively, the spokesperson said.

After both outbreaks, the industry returned to normal and even rebounded in the fourth month. But while these epidemics were confined to one country or some parts of the region, the current COVID-19 is affecting the whole world, said Lee Hoon, professor of the School of Tourism and director of the Tourism Research Institute at Hanyang University in Seoul.

“It will take a long time for the industry to recover and rebound from the COVID-19,” said Lee, adding that cancelations and suspensions of flights and ships in the wake of the pandemic have created travel barriers, a key challenge.  

In December, South Korea had originally aimed to attract 20 million foreign tourists in 2020, but the pandemic has now made it hard for the country to achieve its initial goal, according to Park Sangwon, associate professor of the School of Hotel and Tourism Management at The Hong Kong Polytechnic University. 

Noting extremely limited numbers of passengers visiting and leaving South Korea, Park said the air transportation industry will be among some of the hardest-hit sectors during the COVID-19.

The country is estimated to suffer a 14 percent decline in air passengers with revenue falling by $2.8 billion, according to Yonhap, citing a report by the Korea Culture and Tourism Institute.

To support the industry, the South Korean government has proposed massive financial aid, including the expansion of a primary collateralized bond obligations scheme to 6.7 trillion won that could cover airlines and the tourism industry, as reported by Yonhap.

The government seeks to help the industry in three main aspects, through loans, providing subsidies for employment retention, and the postpone of tax payment, KATA’s spokesperson said.

 “Any kind of supporting measures will be helpful for the industry,” said the spokesperson, adding that the association is also in talks with the government and those in the sector who need help on how to provide further assistance, including bigger financial aid.

Besides support in cash, local governments also offer coupons to stimulate consumption and thus sustain local economy, said Park from PolyU.

Lee from Hanyang University notes that the South Korean government can provide prompt support because of its experience from previous outbreaks.

Though the domestic situation in South Korea has been improving, KATA’s spokesperson said it is still unclear about how tourism can recover as the situation in other countries remains uncertain.

“Compared with the time needed for the industry to recover, what is more critical now is when consumers’ demand for travel will resume,” the spokesperson said.

ALSO READ: South Korea extends intensive social distancing for 14 days

Hanyang University’s Lee said the demand for domestic tourism will expand with the increase of diversified activities to explore attractions within the country.

“In the long run, the demand for outbound tourism is expected to recover after August, but it will depend on when exactly the COVID-19 situation will be eased,” said Lee.

Across Asia, destinations such as China, Japan, Vietnam and Thailand, will feel the decline of travelers from South Korea, said Lee. Meanwhile, Europe, which has seen an increase of Korean travelers recently will also suffer some losses for a while.

“If these overseas destinations want to bring back Korean tourists, they need to first get rid of the impact brought by the COVID-19 and resume flights,” said Lee.

Park from PolyU said as China and South Korea are two countries that are managing the COVID-19 situation relatively well, the travel flow between the two countries will return back to the normal status smoothly as long as the concerns over the pandemic get better.

Park is optimistic about the prospect of South Korea’s tourism industry as he sees opportunities from the country’s systemic management of COVID-19, which would attract international travelers.

READ MORE: How South Korea trounced US in race to test people for virus

Globally, Lee said tourist destinations with thorough hygienic management measures will become more attractive to tourists as travelers grow more sensitive toward hygiene in food and accommodations.

“The tourism industry is a highly resilient industry which is likely to see a rebound once it enters the ‘recovery period’,” said Lee, adding that companies that can hold on will have the chance to flourish again.

Share this story

CHINA DAILY
HONG KONG NEWS
OPEN
Please click in the upper right corner to open it in your browser !