Tourism Industry: "Korea Not Properly Prepared for Travel Bubble"

Employees are working at the headquarters of Chamjoeun Travel Agency in Jung-gu, Seoul, on the 9th, when the government announced the travel bubble policy. Photo by Hyunmin Kim kimhyun81@

[Asia Economy Reporter Choi Dae-yeol] Although travel bubbles between countries are being discussed due to COVID-19 vaccination, the domestic tourism industry, including hotels and airlines, pointed out that there is a lack of tangible policy support. A travel bubble refers to an agreement that allows travel between countries with excellent quarantine measures, easing restrictions such as exemption from self-quarantine after entry. Due to COVID-19 quarantine measures requiring a quarantine period after entry, overseas travel has virtually disappeared, but with travel bubbles, restrictions may be eased, raising expectations in the tourism industry.

At the 23rd meeting of the Tourism Industry Committee of the Korea Chamber of Commerce and Industry held on the 29th, Kim Jeong-bae, the 2nd Vice Minister of the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism, was invited to discuss overall issues in the tourism industry. Kim Kwang-ok, head of the Korea Air Transport Association, said, "The government is currently promoting travel bubbles that only allow group travel, but 85% of inbound travelers to Korea in 2019 and 70% of outbound overseas travelers were individual travelers," adding, "If quarantine safety can be ensured using location tracking applications, the scope of travel bubbles should be expanded to include business and individual travel."

The hotel industry demanded tax reductions. Kim Hyun-sik, CEO of Hotel Lotte, said, "Once travel bubbles are implemented, competition to attract tourists will intensify between countries with agreements," and added, "Policies are needed to secure room price competitiveness, such as applying a zero VAT rate on hotel value-added tax, to capture tourists." This refers to exempting VAT paid by hotel guests to attract tourists. In the past, a zero VAT rate was applied for a certain period to attract overseas tourists during events like the World Cup.

There were also calls for urgent support measures to save the struggling tourism industry. Kim Byung-sam, Secretary General of the Korea Tourism Association Central Council, said, "It has been over a year since the tourism industry expressed difficulties," and requested, "Considering the financial difficulties of the tourism industry, please quickly implement emergency support measures such as exceptions to the group travel ban for groups of five or more, extension of employment retention subsidies for more than one year, and property tax reductions for the hotel industry."

On the 28th, as concerns about the spread of COVID-19 variant viruses grow, overseas arrivals are waiting at Terminal 1 of Incheon International Airport. Photo by Mun Ho-nam munonam@

Oh Seong-hwan, CEO of EOConvex, believed that workers in the exhibition industry and tourism/MICE sectors should be prioritized for vaccination. He said, "Recently, due to high vaccination rates in Europe and the Americas, conventions and international meetings are being held one after another," adding, "To secure leadership in the MICE market, professional workers should be vaccinated first."

Woo Ki-hong, chairman of the Tourism Industry Committee at the Korea Chamber of Commerce and Industry and CEO of Korean Air, said, "Although hope for a return to normal life is growing worldwide as vaccination rates increase, the tourism industry still finds it difficult to feel warmth," and added, "The tourism industry, which can no longer endure much longer, needs active government policy support and expanded private sector cooperation to prepare for the post-COVID era."

Kim Jeong-bae, 2nd Vice Minister of the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism, said, "Some countries are implementing bold international tourism resumption measures such as vaccine passports and quarantine exemptions for arrivals, and we are negotiating travel bubbles with them," adding, "We need to prepare tourism strategies suitable for the new environment brought by COVID-19."

Attending the meeting were Chairman Woo Ki-hong, Kim Jin-guk CEO of Hana Tour, Han Chae-yang CEO of Chosun Hotel & Resort, Kim Hyun-sik CEO of Hotel Lotte, Kim Jeong-su CEO of Hanjin Travel, Oh Chang-hee Chairman of the Korea Association of Travel Agents, Yoo Yong-jong Chairman of the Korea Hotel Association, and Lee Dae-sung Chairman of the Korea Hotel Professional Managers Association. Kim Hyun-joo, head of the Tourism Policy Research Office at the Korea Culture and Tourism Institute, who presented, diagnosed, "Due to differences in vaccination rates by country and the emergence of variant viruses, global travelers are still absent, making it difficult to find recovery signals in the airline industry."

Gu Bon-seung, director at Deloitte, said, "The tourism industry must also quickly promote digital transformation," adding, "Along with efforts for digital transformation within companies, the tourism industry must respond to changes in the tourism ecosystem through competition or cooperation with other entertainment industries."

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