SOUTH KOREA PLANS A VISA-FREE POLICY FOR GROUP TOURISTS FROM CHINA

South Korean officials in the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism recently announced a new approach that could let Chinese tour groups skip the visa process starting in the third quarter. This move is meant to inject fresh energy into the travel scene and boost the economy, or so it seems.

The plan gets a bit playful, too. It’s putting together travel packages especially designed for young folks in their 20s and 30s, particularly those hailing from big cities like Beijing and Shanghai. At the same time, the government is cooking up themed group tours for smaller, second and third-tier cities that spotlight sports events, food adventures, local beauty, culture, and the arts. According to the Bank of Korea, even a jump of one million Chinese tourists might lift the economic growth rate by around 0.08 percentage points.

Travel trends are shifting in interesting ways. Recent data hinted at a kind of two-way travel pattern between China and South Korea. For instance, Ctrip’s numbers suggest that orders from Chinese visitors nearly doubled last year, while trips by Korean tourists to China climbed by 130% compared to the previous year. Moreover, Korean travelers' bookings for attractions and entertainment skyrocketed—reportedly more than 600% compared with 2019.

Since the start of this year, Ctrip data also shows that mainland travel orders to South Korea have increased by nearly 20% on a year-to-year basis. The top source cities? They include Shanghai, Beijing, Hangzhou, Shenzhen, Guangzhou, Qingdao, Nanjing, Suzhou, Tianjin, and Chengdu. Interestingly, most of these travelers come from the post-90s, 80s, and 00s generations, making up about 35%, 31%, and 19%, respectively.

The Ctrip Tourism Research Institute even hints that South Korea’s visa-free plan for Chinese group tours could really simplify travel plans. Once the visa hassle is dialed down a bit, it’s expected that young adventurers and more middle-aged, elderly, and family groups—from even third- and fourth-tier cities—will be tempted to join in. In turn, this influx is likely to kickstart the retail, duty-free, and food service sectors while also sparking closer people-to-people ties between China and South Korea.