Highway Rest Areas See 10 Billion Won Sales Decrease During Chuseok Holiday

Effective Measures Needed, Including Subsidy and Rent-Free Lease Extension

[Asia Economy Honam Reporting Headquarters Reporter Yoon Jamin] Sales at major highway rest areas nationwide during this year's Chuseok holiday period have decreased by nearly 10 billion won compared to the same period last year.

According to data submitted by the Korea Expressway Corporation to Cho O-seop, a member of the National Assembly Land, Infrastructure and Transport Committee from the Democratic Party of Korea (Gwangju Buk-gu Gap), sales at rest areas on the Gyeongbu Expressway, Seohaean Expressway, and Honam Expressway during the Chuseok holiday period dropped by 66.3%, from 14.652779 billion won over three days in 2019 to 4.937607 billion won in 2020.

Specifically, at the Okcheon Rest Area on the Gyeongbu Expressway heading towards Seoul, sales decreased by 84.4%, and at the Chupungnyeong Rest Area heading towards Busan, sales fell by 80.9%. All 35 rest areas on both directions recorded sales of 7.718987 billion won during the three-day Chuseok period last year, but this year sales sharply declined by 67.9% to 2.378885 billion won.

Next, on the Seohaean Expressway, the Haengdamdo Rest Area saw a sales decrease of 500 million won over three days. Other rest areas, including Hampyeongcheonji Rest Area towards Mokpo with a 70.3% decrease and Mokgam Rest Area towards Seoul with a 71.1% decrease, among 20 rest areas, saw sales drop from 4.491778 billion won last year to 1.743726 billion won this year, a 62.9% decrease.

On the Honam Expressway, 16 locations including Beolgok Rest Area towards Daejeon with a 77.1% decrease and Iseo Rest Area towards Suncheon with a 71.2% decrease saw sales fall from 2.442014 billion won last year to 814.996 million won this year, a 66.3% decrease.

Assemblyman Cho O-seop stated, “The decrease is due to the prohibition of indoor seating and allowing only takeout to prevent the resurgence of COVID-19 during the Chuseok holiday period, as well as people refraining from visiting as much as possible. Even considering the impact of COVID-19, measures must be prepared to ensure that additional damages caused by national policies do not fall into blind spots.”

He added, “The Korea Expressway Corporation has planned measures such as ‘full exemption of rent during the holiday period due to sales decline from suspension of indoor store use’ from September 29 to October 4, but this is insufficient. Support funds and free extensions of rental periods should be effectively expanded.”

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