Overseas Travel to Surge This Chuseok

Incheon International Airport is jam-packed with travelers on Aug. 13.

This Chuseok will see yet another surge in overseas travel because the holiday covers a full 10 days.

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The Korean Thanksgiving holiday falls on Oct. 3-6 this year, which is Tuesday to Friday, and the government is mulling making the Monday a temporary holiday too, while Hangeul Day falls on Oct. 9, the following Monday.

Hana Tour said 77,000 people have made bookings for overseas travel during the period, up a whopping 41 percent from last Chuseok. And the holiday is still a month away, so numbers are likely to go up.

The bulk was taken up by trips to hot and affordable Southeast Asia as autumn chills bite in Korea with 42 percent, followed by Japan (24 percent), China (16 percent), Europe (nine percent) and the Americas (five percent).

The number of people booking long-haul to Europe and the Americas grew 3.9 percentage points and 2.9 percentage points on-year because there is more time, but bookings to China plunged 29 percent amid strained bilateral ties.

"Inquiries for overseas travel over the long break already started at the end of last year", a Hana Tour staffer said. "More people are going on long-distance family trips this year".