Nearly 20% of Korean workers plan trips over Chuseok, choose local destination

One in every five Korean salaried workers plans to use the Chuseok holiday period to go on a trip, but most will keep options within the country due to relatively shorter days of break and with Japan off the choice list.

In the survey of 2,570 salaried workers conducted on Aug. 12-21 by the country’s job portal site Saramin and hotel-booking app Yeogi-eottae, 18.4 percent of respondents said they were making travel plans during September 12-14 Chuseok holiday period. Most of them, or 57.4 percent, chose family trip. Others would go in pair (18.8 percent) and amongst friends (12.7 percent) or alone (9 percent).

Eight out 10 respondents, or 84.1 percent, chose domestic destinations, five times higher than those for overseas (15.9 percent), reflecting a shorter holiday period this year compared to previous years. Regarding the scheduled travel duration, 40.5 percent said it would be a short overnight itinerary, followed by a one-day trip (28.4 percent) and a two-night and three-day trip (23.6 percent). Estimated travel expenses were 440,000 won ($363) on average.

[Graphics by Song Ji-yoon]

Among those heading overseas most respondents chose destinations in Southeast Asia (37.3 percent), followed by Hong Kong, Taiwan and Macau (20 percent), China (8 percent) and Japan (8 percent). Japan was a top overseas travel destination last year with 35.2 percent, but it was least chosen this year despite geographical proximity, showing consumers’ ongoing boycott after Japan’s export curbs. Most scheduled three nights (26.7 percent) or two nights (25.3 percent) for their overseas trip with an average expense of 1.82 million won.

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