About 100,000 Chinese tourists are expected to flock to Korea during the long Chinese holiday this week, Korea’s tourism agency said.

Korea has seen a significant surge in the number of Chinese tourists entering the country since last week as the neighboring country began the nine-day “golden week” holiday that started on the lunar full moon day on Sept. 29 and continues through the national holiday from Oct. 1-7.

Tourism experts also find that Korea is rising as an alternative travel destination amid the recent territorial conflict between China and Japan.

Expecting the number of Chinese visitors to increase by about 36.4 percent from the previous year, the Korea Tourism Organization and the Incheon International Airport have been preparing various events for the large influx of tourists. 

The Incheon airport holds welcoming events for Chinese visitors and the KTO is hosting a shopping event to promote the country as a desirable shopping destination.

The KTO expects the country will earn about 200 billion won ($180 million) in travel revenue during the holiday period.

Chinese tourists have taken up a large share of the Korean tourism sector over the past few years. There has been a 30 percent rise in the number of tourists from January to August from the last year. From July to August, the number of tourists from China exceeded Japanese tourists for the first time.

“China is the most important market for Korean tourism and its growth depends on Chinese travelers,” said Han Hwa-joon, head of the KTO’s China team.

By Lee Woo-young (wylee@heraldcorp.com)