Demand for domestic travel reached a six-year high last summer. More than seven out of 10 people have traveled to Korea for summer vacation.
As a travel destination, the popularity of large cities such as Gangwon-do, Seoul, and Busan has increased, but the demand for travel to Jeju Island has decreased noticeably.
According to the results of the “Summer Vacation Travel Survey” conducted by Consumer Insight, a consumer search agency, on the 25th, the demand for domestic travel was 72.2%, up 5.4 percentage points from 66.8 percent last year.
In the survey, about 25,000 people were asked if they had traveled for more than one night during this year’s summer vacation period (June to August) and where it was.
Trends in domestic and overseas summer vacation travel rates from 2016 to 22 (provided by Consumer Insight)
◇”I’ve traveled abroad” 5.1%, 3 times more than the previous year ↑
74.4% of the respondents said they had traveled during the summer vacation season this year, up 7.1 percentage points (p) from last year (67.3%). It is lower than 78.8% in 2019 before COVID-19, but it has recovered to a significant level.
During this period, the domestic travel rate was 72.2%, up 5.4%p from 66.8% last year. The figure is the highest in six years since 2017. The overseas travel rate was 5.1%, up sharply from last year’s 1.6%, but it is still far from the mid-20% before COVID-19. The rate of both domestic and overseas travel was 2.9%.
◇ Jeju Island’s market share has fallen…Increase in metropolitan and metropolitan areas
According to the market share by metropolitan and provincial governments, Gangwon Province maintained its first and second place with 22.7% and Jeju Island with 10.8%. Gyeongsangbuk-do and Jeollanam-do tied for third with 8.7%, followed by Gyeongsangnam-do (8.5%), Busan (7.9%), and Gyeonggi-do (7.3%). Jeollanam-do, which was fifth last year, tied for third, and there was no change in the ranking except for pushing Gyeongnam one step further.
In general, the metropolitan area, such as Seoul (+0.8%p), Gangwon (+0.4%p), Gyeonggi (+0.4%p), and Chungbuk (+0.5%p), and metropolitan areas such as Busan increased. As distance is lifted, short-distance travel around the metropolitan area is increasing again.
Except for Busan, the entire Yeongnam region (Daegu, Gyeongbuk, Ulsan, and Gyeongnam) has decreased, while the Honam region is at a standstill. It is estimated that short-distance travel in Yeongnam has also decreased due to a relatively severe economic recession.
Jeju Island fell 2.4 percentage points from last year to double digits, which is larger than the total drop (-1.3 percentage points) of all other metropolitan governments.
By basic city and county, Jeju and Gangwon regions were strong in the order of △ Seogwipo-si (5.44%), △ Sokcho-si (5.15%), △ Jeju-si (4.78%), and △ Gangneung-si (4.55%). After that, △ Yeosu (3.18%) △ Gyeongju (2.80%) △ Geoje (2.20%) △ Gapyeong (2.02%) △ Taean (1.82%) △ Pyeongchang (1.75%) ranked in the top 10.
Seogwipo remained at the top despite falling market share, and Sokcho rose 0.7 percent, surpassing Jeju (-0.7 percent). Yeosu and Gyeongju changed their places, and there was only a slight change in the rankings, with Pyeongchang pushing Yangyang out and reaching the top 10. 제주도 여행
An official from Consumer Insight said, “As the ‘special effect’ of COVID-19 ended, Jeju Island’s share fell,” adding, “The main reason is expectations of increased feasibility of overseas travel in alternative relationships and Jeju Island’s ‘high cost dispute’ according to the nation’s highest inflation rate (7.4% each) in June and July.”