Tourists flocking to Korea despite H1N1

The number of foreign visitors to Korea is increasing, despite widespread swine flu paranoia around the country.

According to the Korea Immigration Service, the number of foreign visitors to Korea last month hit a record 464,793, an 18.8 percent increase from the previous month.

"The country saw the highest number of foreigners enter Korea last month since the opening of Incheon International Airport in 2001," said Kim Tae-soo, chief of the agency`s intelligence analysis and management team.

Japanese visitors accounted for 32.3 percent of the total, followed by Chinese and Americans with 17 percent and 11.7 percent, respectively.



The number of people from Hong Kong has dramatically increased 81.1 percent to 19,848 from a year ago.

"China`s national holidays in early October, as well as a simpler visa process for Chinese individuals wishing to visit Korea has contributed to the growing number of foreign visitors to Korea," the official said.

Fear of the A(H1N1) flu virus seems to be much lower among foreign travelers than it is among Koreans.

"I know about the new flu spreading in Korea, but it is also spreading around the world. Since I learned about the preventive measures, I think I am okay with it," Kyna Bayangan, from the Philippines, said.

The government raised its flu alert status yesterday to the highest level of "red." The authorities raised alert status because an average of 8,857 people caught swine flu per day last week, up from 4,420 the week before. A total of 42 people had died in Korea from A(H1N1) as of yesterday.

Korean travelers overseas decreased 21.9 percent to 513,796 from a year ago, the agency said.

The flu scare is not affecting the country`s domestic tourism industry. Hotel managers said the cancellation rate was at a normal level.

"We didn`t have any of cancellations by foreign visitors to our hotel because of the new flu. The number of visitors has actually increased from a year ago," Kim Min-sun, publicist for Fraser Suites, told the Korea Herald.

The occupancy rate by foreign guests of the hotel exceeded 60 percent. And the percentage of foreign guests is even higher than that of summer season, she said.

"For the fourth week of November we expect to have many Japanese tourists, who are coming during a holiday week in Japan," Kim said.



Power of hallyu

The influence of the Korean wave is still high and is one of major contributing factors to the increase in the number of foreign travelers, industry officials said.

According to Konest, a Seoul-based travel agency specialized in inbound travelers from Japan, many Japanese tourists are flooding into Korea just to see hallyu stars in concert.

November is regarded as a peak season for hotels and travel agencies as Korean stars hold many events for fans coming from overseas.

Korea weak currency compared to the Japanese yen is another big factor.

"The weak won is still an obvious reason for me to visit Korea. A strong yen, weak won, I think is the most common reason," Jacky Chan, a hedge fund analyst in Hong Kong, said in an email interview. He plans a week-long trip to Korea next month and plans to visit Nami Island, Chuncheon, where the popular "Winter Sonata" was shot seven years ago.

(christory@heraldm.com)



By Cho Chung-un