Chinese tourists prefer Korea

By Kim Tae-gyu

Asia’s two superpowers are at war over the disputed territory of the Senkaku Islands of Japan, known as the Diaoyutai Islands in China. However, the wrangling is seemingly benefiting Korea as far as the tourism industry is concerned.

According to the Korea Tourism Organization (KTO), the monthly number of Chinese visitors to Korea reached record highs during the past few months when the conflicts over the islands culminated.

More than 150,000 Chinese have visited here a month over the last five consecutive months since this May, which is phenomenal since the monthly visitors had typically remained in the neighborhood of 100,000 in the past.

Along the same line, a decreasing number of Chinese tourists take a flight to Tokyo as anti-Japanese sentiment sprouted up this year due to the territory controversy over the uninhabited islands in the East China Sea.

``Early this year, Chinese visited Japan as often as Korea. However, more of them have opted for Korea this summer for some reason. In September, the difference was outstanding,’’ a KTO official said. 

``The heated argument on the Senkaku Islands appears to have prompted Chinese people to visit Korea rather than Japan. We need to monitor whether the trend will continue down the road.’’

The bickering over the Senkaku Islands is not a fresh issue. Yet strife sprouted up once again of late when Tokyo detained a Chinese fishing trawler in September operating in waters around the islets.

The Japanese government eventually released the captain late September but the anti-Japanese sentiment did not subsidize in the world’s most populous country. 

``Think of Dokdo. Would you want to spend money on Japan should Tokyo beefs up its claims on the outcrops? The same logic seems to be applied to the majority of Chinese tourists,’’ a Seoul analyst said. 

``I am not sure whether Chinese will keep selecting Korea as their final destination in the future. Seoul is required to develop tourist attractions in order to draw Chinese people to take advantage of the hard-earned opportunities.’’

Situated around 90 kilometers off Korea’s Ulleung Island, Dokdo is a set of volcanic outcrops, whose ownership has been disputed between Seoul and Tokyo over the past several decades. 

Dokdo, known as Takeshima in Japan, is presently under the strict control of Korea with the country’s police officers stationed there. Yet, Japan has not stopped claiming sovereignty over the islets, which have rich fishery resources and undersea minerals.