SOUTH KOREA. According to recent Korea National Tourism Organization figures, following major declines in April, May and June the number of Korean departures has jumped by +12.3% year-on-year in September to 591,151, following slight increases in July and August.
For the nine month period January to September, the total number of Korean departures was down -3.7% year-on-year.
In September, positive improvements were seen in Korean travel to all key Asia Pacific destinations, especially Japan (+20.2% year-on-year), Taiwan (+51.6%), Thailand (+31.8%), Malaysia (+27.1%), China (+15.3%) while the Middle East gained +32.4%. In total, travel to Asia Pacific was up +17.5% year-on-year in September; a clear indication that Koreans are regaining confidence in travelling to the region after SARS triggered declines in departures from March through to July.
For the year-to-date period, departures to Japan were up by +13.5% year-on-year, although departures to China and Thailand declined by -15.7% and -6.5% respectively.
Travel to the Americas was up +5.0% year-on-year, due to a +5.0% increase in travel to the US and a +6.5% increase in travel to Canada. Mexico, Guatemala and Brazil all recorded declines of -5.2%, -25.7% and -17.6% respectively, although travel to Argentina surged by 85.7% year-on-year. For the January to September period, Korean departures to the US remained flat.
The number of travellers to Europea increased by +8.6%, driven by growth in the key markets, including UK (+18.9%), Germany, (+11.9%), France (+5.9%), Switzerland (+38.4%) and Russia (+2.4%). Declines were recorded in travel to the Netherlands (-13.8%), Sweden (-25.2%), Italy (-5.8%) and Denmark (-49.0%). For the year-to-date period, departures to Europe were up by +4.3% year-on-year.
Travel to Oceania regions, mainly Australia, Guam and New Zealand, was up +4.0% in September, but still down by -3.0% for the year-to-date period. Australia accounted for almost 50% of the total Oceania travel in September, up +31.1% year-on-year. The number of Koreans travelling to New Zealand increased by +10.4%.
Finally, African destinations saw an increasing number of Korean travellers, up +24.2% in total in September, with Egypt and Libya posting rises of +24.2% and +61.8% respectively, although travel to South Africa slipped by -9.2% year-on-year.
