COVID-19 Boom: Jeju Golf Course Visitors Increase by 300,000 Compared to Last Year

[Asia Economy Honam Reporting Headquarters (Jeju) Reporter Park Chang-won] Last year, the number of golf course visitors in Jeju Province increased by 300,000 compared to the previous year.

According to the Jeju Special Self-Governing Province's "2020 Jeju Region Golf Course Visitor Status" data on the 14th, the total number of visitors to golf courses in the province last year was 2,399,511, a 14.7% increase compared to the same period the previous year.

Among golf course visitors, the proportion of non-residents and foreigners was 17.5% (1,279,397 people), and residents accounted for 11.7% (1,120,114 people).

Except for March and May last year, the number of visitors to golf courses in the province increased, which is interpreted as benefiting from the COVID-19 boom.

Specifically, the numbers were 102,610 (6.0%) in January, 113,345 (5.4%) in February, 142,595 (-15.5%) in March, 195,106 (0.2%) in April, 192,717 (-11.8%) in May, 232,580 (13.9%) in June, 228,599 (37.9%) in July, 236,836 (30.6%) in August, 195,180 (33.4%) in September, 281,604 (27.5%) in October, 302,103 (33.1%) in November, and 176,236 (10.3%) in December.

During the early COVID-19 outbreak period from March to May, as the number of non-resident visitors decreased, resident visitors increased, and in the second half of the year (July to December), non-residents increased by 41% and residents by 9.4% compared to the previous year.

The criticism that "it is difficult for residents to make golf course reservations," which was raised by some, was reflected in the number of golf course visitors in the province last month. Last month, resident visitors decreased by 23.4% compared to the same month last year, while non-resident and foreign visitors increased by 41.2% during the same period.

Jeju Province cited the popularization of golf culture leading to a rapid increase in the golf population and the COVID-19 impact making overseas travel virtually impossible, causing golf travel demand to concentrate in Jeju as the reasons for this increase in visitors.

Accordingly, golf courses in the province have been raising entrance fees and abolishing benefits such as resident discounts, increasingly accepting reservations mainly from external golf tourists.

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