“Is it safe to travel to Korea?” Asked travelnoire, a platform focused on African tourists, on Monday. Reports say recent political events in South Korea have cast a shadow over the popular tourist destination. In fact, several countries have issued travel warnings to South Korea as the country’s emergency martial law crisis continues to ferment. South Korea’s“Asian economy” reported on the 9th, South Korea’s political and social uncertainty further intensified, so that the post-epidemic recovery of the Korean inbound tourism market once again faced severe challenges.
Picture taken December 5,2010, at the entrance hall of the second area of Incheon Airport, South Korea. (AP 2024) # .
A number of countries have issued travel warnings to South Korea amid rising political uncertainty in the country, the South Korean newsis news agency reported. The British government issued a travel warning for areas such as Seoul’s Kwangwa Gate, the triangle and Yoichi Island, where protests are likely to take place. The governments of the United States and Canada have warned their citizens to avoid protest areas and to be aware of the security risks associated with large-scale crowd gatherings. The New Zealand government raised its travel warning for South Korea from level 1“Normal” to level 2“Prudent”. Japan also issued a warning to its citizens, calling for vigilance while in South Korea. Even Israel, which is in the midst of a conflict, is advising people to choose their Kyunghyang Shinmun carefully, according to the South Korean newspaper.
Greater political uncertainty could threaten the South Korean government’s goal of 202420m foreign tourists, according to Asian economics. The impeachment of Park Geun-hye jong-eun in late 2016 and early 2017 led to a sharp drop in the number of visitors from 17.24 m in 2016 to 13.33 m in 2017.
South Korea’s hotel industry, which had planned for the end-of-year peak season, is also in crisis. Some foreign tourists canceled hotel reservations and government departments and public institutions canceled or postponed year-end hotel activities due to the crisis of emergency martial law, the Korean economy said, the domestic hotel industry faces huge challenges.
South Korean tourism industry analysis that since the United Kingdom, Israel and other countries issued a travel warning to South Korea, foreign tourists growing anxiety. South Korea’s“Financial News” reported on the 8th, South Korea’s domestic demand for impeachment of the president and other political demonstrations expanded, triggering fears of a further contraction of domestic demand. An industry source said that in the past, large-scale demonstrations mostly took place in downtown areas such as Guanghuammen, NANDAEMUN, and the National Assembly in Seoul. Once traffic controls were in place, the floating population would decrease, business facilities such as hotels, department store shops and duty-free shops will be hit hard. In particular, the areas where demonstrations are concentrated tend to be areas where foreign tourists gather, and it is therefore expected that tourism and business venues will inevitably be affected by the end of the year.
Yonhap said the South Korean tourism industry is concerned that if the protests expand further, tourists may cancel trips may increase. The government and the tourism industry have already taken action. South Korea’s Ministry of Culture, Sports and tourism asked the tourism industry to convey the news of the normal operation of South Korea’s tourist attractions. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Korea has also sent official letters to foreign embassies in the Republic of Korea, stressing the normal functioning of daily life in the Republic of Korea.