"First Time in 3 Years"...Group Tours to Popular China Routes Stretch Out Again

26 Customers Depart for China Zhangjiajie Tour by Modetour
Hanatour and Others Also Proceed with China Package Tour Schedules

Group tours to China, which had been halted due to COVID-19, have resumed.

According to the travel industry on the 25th, 26 group tourists organized by Modetour departed for Zhangjiajie using Asiana Airlines the day before. Zhangjiajie was considered a popular travel destination, accounting for 35% of the total visitors from all regions in China, with about 55,000 monthly departures as of 2019, before the outbreak of COVID-19.

Chinese yuan currency
Photo by Modetour

Modetour included 5-star hotel accommodations throughout the entire Zhangjiajie package, four local specialty meals, no tipping, no optional tours, and one shopping trip to allow travelers to focus solely on their trip. Earlier, on the 22nd, they launched the industry's first Zhangjiajie home shopping product to confirm demand for travel to China. They plan to introduce various travel products and promotions covering all over China, including Baekdu Mountain, Qingdao, Beijing, and Shanghai.

Hanatour and Norangpungseon also confirmed the departure of Zhangjiajie package tours the day before. Previously, on the 19th, Hanatour sent 26 group tourists from Busan to Baekdu Mountain through a China travel product. They were the first travel group for the popular 'Yanji-Baekdu Mountain' product, which had been favored even before COVID-19.

China was one of the most visited destinations by Korean nationals before COVID-19. In 2019, it ranked second with a 15.1% share of overseas travel by country, following Japan at 19.4%. There was high demand from middle-aged and senior travelers, especially for package tours focused on enjoying natural scenery and filial tourism.

The travel industry expects that the expansion of group tours to China will accelerate the normalization of overseas travel and is actively developing related products. Jo Jaegwang, Head of Product Division at Modetour, said, "Since early April, the number of China travel reservations has surged, and from next month, with smoother visa issuance and increased airline supply, we expect the China travel market to fully recover." He added, "We plan to actively introduce renewed products and various promotions in line with the full resumption of China travel."

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