Amid COVID Spread and Cold Wave... Tourism Boom Intensifies in Jungguk

State Media: "Chinese Driving Global Tourism Boom"
Low Elderly Vaccination Rate Despite Government Efforts

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Beijing=Special Correspondent Kim Hyunjung] Amid anticipated challenges in medical response due to the nationwide spread of COVID-19 and sudden cold waves in China, a strong overseas travel boom is occurring on the other hand.

According to Chinese travel service app Trip.com on the 10th, during the Golden Week period from the 21st to the 27th of this month, which is the Spring Festival (Chunje, Chinese New Year) holiday, overseas travel bookings by Chinese people surged by 540% compared to the previous year (based on a 5-day survey). The spending per reservation also increased by 32% during the same period. The Chinese state-run media Global Times (GT), citing these statistics, reported, "After the lifting of entry restrictions, many Chinese are planning overseas trips ahead of the Lunar New Year holiday and renewing their passports," adding, "The potential of Chinese tourists is recovering and will lead a global tourism boom."

Visa application requests for travel to South Korea are also on the rise. According to the Consular Section of the Embassy of South Korea in China, the number of applications, which was around 557 in early December last year (1st to 9th, excluding holidays), nearly doubled to 1,173 between the 21st and 29th of the same month.

Administrative agencies within China are also hastening their response. December and January typically see a surge in visa issuance and passport applications due to students' study abroad demands, and with the recent increase in travel demand, the immigration management bureau has opened a year-round hotline and increased staff deployment, GT reported.

Some Southeast Asian countries have rolled out the "red carpet" for China. The Tourism Authority of Thailand forecasts that the number of Chinese tourists visiting Thailand in the first quarter of this year will reach 300,000, with an annual total possibly reaching 5 million. Local media also reported that "China's reopening will boost Thailand's gross domestic product (GDP) by 0.6 percentage points." Malaysia is also expecting between 1.5 million and 2 million Chinese tourists this year and has deployed Chinese-speaking staff at airports to support them.

[Image source=Yonhap News]

However, the COVID-19 situation within China remains challenging. Although the number of confirmed COVID-19 cases is rapidly increasing nationwide, authorities are not disclosing the spread status, citing the abolition of polymerase chain reaction (PCR) testing. Especially due to the unprecedentedly rapid easing of quarantine measures and the surge in cold patients caused by the sudden cold wave, medical response is expected to face difficulties. According to the China Meteorological Administration, a strong cold wave will hit the entire country from the 11th to the 15th of this month, with temperature drops reaching up to 20°C depending on the region. The temperature drop is expected to be 6?12°C in Xinjiang, Gansu, and Qinghai; 12?16°C in Inner Mongolia, Heilongjiang, and Jilin; and locally over 20°C in Hubei, Hunan, and Jiangxi. Changsha, currently experiencing early summer weather, is expected to suddenly shift to late winter conditions. A diplomatic source said, "Within China, there are comments that the timing should have been either earlier last fall or later this spring," adding, "The medical system is almost in a wartime state, and there are even rumors that doctors who tested positive are working due to staff shortages, becoming the center of the spread."

Although official statistics are not released, it seems difficult to prevent an increase in deaths due to COVID-19. This is because the elderly vaccination campaign, which China announced it would strongly promote at the end of November last year ahead of the zero-COVID policy repeal, has not gained much momentum. According to the official announcement from the National Center for Disease Control, as of December 13 last year, the booster shot vaccination rate for those aged 60 and over was 86.6%, showing little improvement compared to August (85.6%). There has been no official announcement regarding vaccination rates since then.

Due to concerns about quarantine measures, European countries, which had maintained cautious stances following the United States, Japan, and South Korea, are also joining the ranks of strengthening quarantine for arrivals from China. Germany announced the day before that travelers aged 12 and over arriving from China must present a negative COVID-19 test result on Chinese social networking services (SNS).

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