South Korean tourists in the Middle East are gradually returning home amid escalating regional tensions, travel industry sources said Thursday.
According to industry officials, more than 400 tourists from major travel agencies had been staying in Dubai as of Wednesday. They included about 150 customers from Hana Tour, around 190 from Mode Tour and about 70 from Yellow Balloon Tour.
Among them, 36 Hana Tour customers arrived at Incheon International Airport, west of Seoul, at around 3:40 p.m. Thursday on a commercial flight via Taipei, the officials said.
Mode Tour has also arranged an alternative flight for 39 customers, who are expected to arrive at Incheon later in the day.
Following these arrivals, roughly 330 South Korean tourists are still believed to remain in Dubai. Tourists staying in other Middle Eastern countries are expected to return home without major disruptions, according to the travel companies.
A Hana Tour official said its group tourists currently in Cairo are returning home without disruption, while a Yellow Balloon Tour official said the company is arranging alternative flights for its customers in Cairo and Amman, Jordan, for later this week.
Separately, 30 South Koreans arrived at Incheon airport on Thursday afternoon aboard a Turkish Airlines flight that departed from Turkey.
They included 20 South Koreans who had been residing in Iran, including Lee Do-hee, head coach of Iran's women's national volleyball team, who traveled to Turkmenistan to board the flight.
The remaining 10 passengers included South Korean employees stationed in Saudi Arabia for local operations of major conglomerates. (Yonhap)
