{"id":30087,"date":"2026-02-20T22:41:38","date_gmt":"2026-02-20T14:41:38","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/?p=30087"},"modified":"2026-02-20T22:41:38","modified_gmt":"2026-02-20T14:41:38","slug":"chinas-visa-free-waivers-spark-korean-travel-boom-underpin-tourism-revival","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/?p=30087","title":{"rendered":"China\u2019s visa-free waivers spark Korean travel boom, underpin tourism revival"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><br \/>\n<br \/><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn.i-scmp.com\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/1280x720\/public\/d8\/images\/canvas\/2026\/01\/30\/1790436d-2fd5-42cd-80ef-675f90c3bbe7_d79dee58.jpg?itok=tZotYcvP&amp;v=1769767054\" \/><\/p>\n<div id=\"\">\n<p datatype=\"p\" data-qa=\"Component-Component\" class=\"e8zc9q40 css-1c6uqr6 ec74h0k1\">For Choi Yu-jin, a 31-year-old Seoul-based fashion designer, the perfect getaway requires three elements: value, spotless streetscapes and unforgettable flavours. And Shanghai, she says, delivers on all counts.<\/p>\n<p datatype=\"p\" data-qa=\"Component-Component\" class=\"e8zc9q40 css-1c6uqr6 ec74h0k1\">Three visits since 2024, with a fourth planned for April, are testament to a city that is increasingly capturing the imagination \u2013 and wallets \u2013 of South Korean travellers, buoyed by visa-free access and a burgeoning reputation for cosmopolitan appeal.<\/p>\n<p datatype=\"p\" data-qa=\"Component-Component\" class=\"e8zc9q40 css-1c6uqr6 ec74h0k1\">\u201cRestaurants and streets were notably clean. And even upscale dining came at lower prices than in Korea, without compromising on taste,\u201d Choi said.<\/p>\n<div datatype=\"p\" data-qa=\"Component-Component\" class=\"e8zc9q40 css-1xdhyk6 ec74h0k0\">Her experience underscores Shanghai\u2019s continued appeal as one of the most popular destinations for South Korean tourists \u2013 a trend boosted by <span data-qa=\"Component-Text\" class=\"css-0 ef9u0v00\">China\u2019s 30-day visa-free entry policy<\/span> that was introduced in November 2024.<\/div>\n<p datatype=\"p\" data-qa=\"Component-Component\" class=\"e8zc9q40 css-1c6uqr6 ec74h0k1\">The number of South Korean visitors to Shanghai rose from around 570,000 in 2023 to 1.1 million in 2024, before climbing in 2025 by a further 23.6 per cent, year on year, according to data from the country\u2019s aviation information portal.<\/p>\n<p datatype=\"p\" data-qa=\"Component-Component\" class=\"e8zc9q40 css-1c6uqr6 ec74h0k1\">Short flight times, along with affordable food and attractions, helped draw a total of 1.37 million South Korean visitors to the city last year \u2013 roughly 43 per cent of all South Korean visits to mainland China, up from 35 per cent in 2024, data showed.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p><br \/>\n<br \/><a href=\"https:\/\/www.scmp.com\/economy\/global-economy\/article\/3341851\/chinas-visa-free-waivers-spark-korean-travel-boom-underpin-tourism-revival?utm_source=rss_feed\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Read Full Article At Source <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>For Choi Yu-jin, a 31-year-old Seoul-based fashion designer, the perfect getaway requires three elements: value, spotless streetscapes and unforgettable flavours. And Shanghai, she says, delivers&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":30088,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fifu_image_url":"","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[4840],"tags":[6233,6292,498,12907,7643,5058,151,16082,5737,16081],"class_list":["post-30087","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-travel-globetrotting","tag-boom","tag-chinas","tag-korean","tag-revival","tag-spark","tag-tourism","tag-travel","tag-underpin","tag-visafree","tag-waivers","wpcat-4840-id"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/30087","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=30087"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/30087\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/30088"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=30087"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=30087"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=30087"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}