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A TOTAL of 13.59 South Koreans have visited the resort island of Jeju this year amid the COVID-19 pandemic, Yonhap reported Tuesday (12/27).
According to the Jeju Tourism Association, the figure makes this a record for the highest number of domestic travelers of all time on the island.
In total, 13.68 million domestic and foreign tourists visited Jeju in the period January 1 to December 25, or an increase of about 16% from the same period last year. More than 99%, or 13.59 million of them, are local tourists, according to the association’s data. The number of domestic travelers is the highest, surpassing the previous record of 13.56 million in 2019.
Furthermore, the association said the surge of domestic tourists either on individual tours or school student tour packages to Jeju after the lifting of social distancing rules earlier this year was one of the factors for the increase in local tourists.
The annual number of domestic travelers to Jeju remained around 8 million in 2012-2014 and crossed the 10 million mark for the first time in 2015. The figure gradually rose to 13.56 million in 2019 before dropping below 12 million in 2021 due to the pandemic.
The tourism industry in Jeju estimates that the number of tourists by the end of 2022 will reach 13.8 million, of which 13.7 million are domestic visitors. [antaranews/photo special]
