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(provided by Asiana Airlines)

Reservations for international flights and travel packages to popular destinations are once again on the rise in South Korea after the government announced that its lifting mandatory quarantine rules for inbound travelers.

Asiana Airlines announced Tuesday that international flight reservations had increased by more than 80% since the announcement. Figures were found by looking at the reservation numbers received for two weeks from March 11 to March 24, after the new policy was announced, compared to the two previous weeks.

Asiana Airlines said this was “the biggest increase since the reduction of [travel] routes due to a decrease in international passenger demand as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020.”

In terms of the most popular routes, reservations to America and Europe increased by 100%, and to Southeast Asia by more than 80%. The most popular route seems to be from Incheon to Hawaii, with reservations seeing an increase of more than 200%. Besides Hawaii, other popular destinations include LA, New York, Frankfurt, Ho Chi Minh City and Bangkok — all of which saw an increase of 110% in terms of bookings, Asiana Airlines said.

Reflecting this trend, Asiana Airlines decided to increase flights on its ICN-LAX route from 10 to 11 flights per week starting May 1. The proportion of flights at times slots that are particularly preferred among passengers will also be increased from 3 to 7 times per week.

“Reservations for international flights are on the rise thanks to the lifting of quarantine for inbound travelers,” Asiana Airlines said. “In order for customers who are traveling for the first time in two years to plan their travel schedules in different ways, we will continue to resume flights and actively increase the number of flights [available],” they added.

The number of reservations for packages offered by travel agencies has also been on the rise.

“As a result of tallying and comparing the reservation status of travel packages for two weeks before and after the announcement of the lifting of quarantine for inbound travelers, the number more than quadrupled,” Modetour said on Tuesday.

The growth rate of bookings for travel packages to Southeast Asia was the highest at 2,613%, followed by Europe at 1,990%, the Americas at 808%, and the South Pacific at 213%.

“Interest in overseas travel is exploding with news of the quarantine exemption for inbound travelers,” says Yuk Hyeon-woo, who serves as director of marketing at Modetour.

Similarly, Very Good Tour announced, “8,987 people booked travel packages from March 14 to 27, an increase of 86% compared to the period from February 28 to March 13.” Regarding the most popular regional destinations, Europe ranked first, followed by North America, Southeast Asia, Guam and Saipan, Australia and New Zealand, and the Middle East.

Moreover, Lee Sang-pil, general manager at Very Good Tour, said, "The number of visitors to the website from March 14 to 26 was 280,000, an increase of 147% compared to February 28 to March 12.”

Accordingly, travel agencies are putting pedal to the metal marketing their services by selling travel packages on home shopping channels, putting out ad spreads in newspapers, and more.

Very Good Tour explained that, through advertising on the Lotte Homeshopping channel on the evening of March 27 for a single hour, they sold 3.79 million to 4.89 million won worth of travel packages to Switzerland, Northern and Eastern Europe, totaling 5,210 reservations.

HanaTour is also holding its own special promotion, offering a discount of up to 300,000 won until April 17, focusing on locations that don’t require quarantine for inbound travelers.

By Kwak Jin-san, staff reporter

Please direct questions or comments to [english@hani.co.kr]