[Joyongjun's Manri Yodam] "With this money, I'd rather go to Dongnam-a"

'10 Times Increase Last Year' Surge in Overseas Travel
Travel Balance Deficit Reaches 3.2 Billion USD
Urgent Measures Needed to Boost Price Competitiveness

"Since COVID-19 is over, we should fully enjoy the overseas trips we couldn't take before." "These days, traveling to Japan is the trend among trends."

Demand for overseas travel is exploding during the first summer peak season since the COVID endemic (transition of an infectious disease to an endemic state). The pent-up desire for overseas travel has burst all at once. Although the vacation season has not fully started, autumn travel packages including the Chuseok holiday, National Foundation Day, and Hangul Day are rapidly selling out. There are even reports that the reservation rate for overseas travel during the Chuseok holiday is approaching 100%.

From January to May this year, 8,158,826 Korean nationals traveled abroad, which is more than 10 times the 580,000 who traveled during the same period last year. On top of that, the unprecedented 'Enjeo (weak yen)' phenomenon has coincided, causing a sharp increase in Korean tourists visiting Japan.

According to data released by the Japan National Tourism Organization (JNTO), among approximately 1.9 million foreigners who visited Japan last month, about 516,000 were Koreans, the largest group. From January to May, the number of Koreans visiting Japan reached approximately 2.58 million.

A travel industry official said, "As the previously suppressed travel consumption sentiment revives, reservations are explosively increasing regardless of whether the destination is near or far."

Although this is the result of pent-up 'revenge travel,' the growth rate is exceeding expectations and causing concern. While the number of foreign tourists entering Korea has also increased (about 3.47 million from January to May), it falls far short of the increase in outbound travelers. The number of inbound foreign visitors and outbound Korean travelers differ by nearly three times. This makes the designation of this year and next as the 'Year of Visit Korea' seem meaningless.

The travel balance of payments (the difference between money spent abroad by Koreans and money spent domestically by foreigners) is in a state of emergency. The travel balance deficit in the first quarter of this year was $3.235 billion, the largest in three and a half years since the third quarter of 2019. Korea's travel balance has been in a chronic deficit structure for 23 years since 2000. This is a natural result since more Koreans travel abroad than foreigners visit Korea.

There is no need to be overly anxious about the travel balance deficit, but it is clear that the growth rate has increased compared to before. While it is not about stopping those who want to leave, the situation where the number of tourists entering the country is extremely low is a serious problem. There is concern that the deficit will continue to widen.

In response to the worsening travel balance, the government is making every effort to revitalize domestic tourism. Measures such as designating travel months, providing discount coupons for domestic accommodations, and promoting farm stays are being implemented. These attempts aim to redirect the rapidly increasing overseas travel demand to domestic consumption. However, noticeable results have yet to appear. It is difficult to change the fundamental deficit trend of the travel balance with one-off events.

Especially, turning the footsteps of foreign tourists toward domestic destinations is insufficient. Prices have already soared, and exploitative pricing practices are rampant. The criticism that domestic prices are less competitive than overseas prices is nothing new. For people who say, "At this price, I'd rather go to Japan or Southeast Asia," urging them to travel domestically can only be an empty echo.

The government and local authorities must actively develop attractive tourism resources and secure price competitiveness. Without building competitiveness, travelers will be even busier booking plane tickets abroad. Appeals to patriotism for domestic tourism activation are no longer sustainable.

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