{"id":16776,"date":"2025-12-04T17:26:43","date_gmt":"2025-12-04T09:26:43","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/?p=16776"},"modified":"2025-12-04T17:26:43","modified_gmt":"2025-12-04T09:26:43","slug":"south-korea-thailand-emerge-as-top-choice-for-chinese-tourists-amid-japan-tensions","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/?p=16776","title":{"rendered":"South Korea, Thailand emerge as top choice for Chinese tourists amid Japan tensions"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><br \/>\n<\/p>\n<div id=\"\">\n<div datatype=\"p\" data-qa=\"Component-Component\" class=\"e8zc9q40 css-1xdhyk6 ec74h0k0\">With rising tensions between <span data-qa=\"Component-Text\" class=\"css-0 ef9u0v00\">Beijing and Tokyo<\/span> disrupting travel plans, <span data-qa=\"Component-Text\" class=\"css-0 ef9u0v00\">Chinese tourists<\/span> are actively seeking alternative destinations for their winter getaways. While <span data-qa=\"Component-Text\" class=\"css-0 ef9u0v00\">South Korea<\/span> hopes to capitalise on this diverted tourist flow, it faces fierce competition from popular hotspots like <span data-qa=\"Component-Text\" class=\"css-0 ef9u0v00\">Thailand<\/span>, <span data-qa=\"Component-Text\" class=\"css-0 ef9u0v00\">Russia<\/span> and other destinations, according to travel industry officials.<\/div>\n<div datatype=\"p\" data-qa=\"Component-Component\" class=\"e8zc9q40 css-1xdhyk6 ec74h0k0\">The timing aligns with South Korean airlines\u2019 efforts to expand routes to <span data-qa=\"Component-Text\" class=\"css-0 ef9u0v00\">China<\/span>, which are more profitable than routes to Japan. Korean Air Lines increased its Incheon-Fuzhou route from three weekly flights to four last month, and Asiana Airlines is set to operate 165 weekly flights to China by March, reflecting a 20 per cent increase in capacity.<\/div>\n<div datatype=\"p\" data-qa=\"Component-Component\" class=\"e8zc9q40 css-1xdhyk6 ec74h0k0\">Chinese cruise operators are also scrambling to bypass Japanese ports, opting instead to extend their stays at destinations such as <span data-qa=\"Component-Text\" class=\"css-0 ef9u0v00\">Jeju Island<\/span>.<\/div>\n<div class=\"image-inline-container e1a5rv550 css-1llrc1m e1yqhwb40\" data-qa=\"Component-renderMap-StyledDiv\">\n<div class=\"image-inline caption e1fvabeq0 css-19sk4h4 ea9pn0s0\" data-qa=\"Component-Container\">\n<figure class=\"image-inline caption ea9pn0s1 css-1qeofuq e1gf69pb0\" data-qa=\"ArticleImage-ArticleImageContainer\">\n<div data-qa=\"ArticleImage-handleRenderImage-ImageContainer\" class=\"css-0 e1gf69pb3\"><img decoding=\"async\" alt=\"Chinese tourists wave upon entering South Korea\u2019s largest port city of Busan in June 2024. Photo: EPA-EFE\" data-qa=\"BaseImage-handleRenderImage-StyledImage\" class=\"e1gf69pb2 css-6ikqhs e445x7d0\" loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/img.i-scmp.com\/cdn-cgi\/image\/fit=contain,width=1024,format=auto\/sites\/default\/files\/d8\/images\/canvas\/2025\/12\/04\/f94923d5-6bb0-42bc-ac5a-98015a419d53_cfca2cb1.jpg\" title=\"Chinese tourists wave upon entering South Korea\u2019s largest port city of Busan in June 2024. Photo: EPA-EFE\"\/><\/div><figcaption data-qa=\"ArticleImage-DescriptionContainer\" class=\"css-1ixmelf e1gf69pb1\">Chinese tourists wave upon entering South Korea\u2019s largest port city of Busan in June 2024. Photo: EPA-EFE<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p datatype=\"p\" data-qa=\"Component-Component\" class=\"e8zc9q40 css-1c6uqr6 ec74h0k1\">Data from Chinese travel platform Qunar revealed that for the weekend of November 15, South Korea emerged as the most popular overseas destination for Chinese tourists, overtaking Japan, which previously held the top spot.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p><br \/>\n<br \/><a href=\"https:\/\/www.scmp.com\/news\/asia\/east-asia\/article\/3335196\/south-korea-thailand-emerge-top-choice-chinese-tourists-amid-japan-tensions?utm_source=rss_feed\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Read Full Article At Source <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>With rising tensions between Beijing and Tokyo disrupting travel plans, Chinese tourists are actively seeking alternative destinations for their winter getaways. While South Korea hopes&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1864,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fifu_image_url":"","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[4840],"tags":[107,1111,11669,2251,1644,5246,7206,1745,75,5593],"class_list":["post-16776","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-travel-globetrotting","tag-chinese","tag-choice","tag-emerge","tag-japan","tag-korea","tag-south","tag-tensions","tag-thailand","tag-top","tag-tourists","wpcat-4840-id"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16776","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=16776"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16776\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=16776"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=16776"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=16776"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}