"Southeast Asia Too"... Travel Industry 'Resigned' as Alternative Destinations Blocked by New Coronavirus

At the arrival hall of Terminal 1, Incheon International Airport, employees of the National Quarantine Station under the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency are measuring passengers' temperatures using thermal imaging cameras.
[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Heung-soon] "I thought Southeast Asia was practically the only alternative destination that could attract overseas travelers, but it seems even that is about to lose visitors."

On the 5th, a representative from a domestic travel agency specializing in outbound travel (overseas travel by Koreans) expressed disappointment while observing the spread of the novel coronavirus infection (Wuhan pneumonia). This came after the 16th confirmed case in Korea was reported to have entered from Thailand the previous day. Although the exact infection route has not yet been identified, this confirmed patient has no history of visiting China, drawing attention to the possibility of infection from visits to other countries.

In particular, since the region he traveled to last month was reported to be Southeast Asia, the outbound travel industry is anticipating considerable damage. This case could lead to a chain of cancellations even for previously booked Southeast Asia trips. In fact, as confirmed cases surged around the Lunar New Year holiday this year, Korean citizens' trips to China booked for January and even February were repeatedly canceled.

The travel industry has regarded Southeast Asia as a breakthrough market for overseas travel. Due to the deterioration of Korea-Japan relations causing a sharp decline in demand for travel to Japan since the second half of last year, the Hong Kong protests impacting that region, and the novel coronavirus halting visits to China, which attracts large numbers of tourists, there was a strong perception that only Southeast Asia remained. According to the overseas travel sales results for January this year from major domestic travel agencies such as Hana Tour and Modu Tour, Southeast Asia accounted for about 65% of all destinations, making it the most popular choice. In this situation, the revelation that the additional confirmed patient's travel route was in Southeast Asia was a "bolt from the blue."

A travel agency official said, "Although we have not yet grasped specific figures, cancellations of previously booked Southeast Asia travel packages are occurring, similar to the cases involving China." Due to the impact of the novel coronavirus, the atmosphere of Korean citizens avoiding overseas travel is expected to continue for some time. According to Hana Tour, demand for overseas travel in February and March has decreased by 65.1% and 54.1%, respectively, compared to the previous year.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.