An unexpected opportunity for South Korea? Demand for travel to South Korea expected due to Japan-China conflict

As the conflict between Japan and China deepens, some are predicting a change in the flow of travel demand in East Asia, and South Korea's hotels, duty-free shops, and beauty industry are keenly watching the situation.
There is a high possibility that demand will shift from Japan to South Korea, and there is hope that this will benefit the country, but so far no meaningful change has been seen.
According to the industry on the 25th, the number of foreign tourists visiting Korea is steadily increasing due to the popularity of K-culture and visa-free entry for Chinese group tourists.
According to data from the Korea Tourism Organization's Data Lab, the number of foreign tourists visiting Korea this year has nearly doubled from 8.96 million in February to 16.3 million in October. In particular, the number of Chinese group tourists in September
The number of foreign visitors increased by more than one million in the first one to two months after the visa-free entry policy was implemented. Experts believe that the conflict between Japan and China is likely to increase demand in the hotels, duty-free shops and beauty industry in South Korea.
In fact, the duty-free industry is showing expectations as Chinese group tourists are its main customers. A person in the duty-free industry said, "At the moment, sales related to Chinese tourists are not increasing rapidly.
However, if the current trend of conflict between Japan and China continues, demand will gradually decline in the medium to long term, mainly from MICE (corporate meetings, incentive tourism, international conferences, and exhibitions) groups and individual travelers.
"It's possible that the number of people traveling will gradually increase," he said. He said he expects the effects will be felt after a time lag, as travel typically takes two to three months from planning to execution.
The hotel and travel industry expressed a similar view, saying, "We are receiving continuous inquiries from Chinese (Chinese-speaking) group tourists."
"We expect demand from Chinese tourists to continue increasing until visa-free entry is permitted," said a travel industry insider.
"We are seeing a trend of tourists considering Korea and Southeast Asia as alternative destinations," he said. "Group demand in particular is strongly influenced by safety and image, so Korea may enjoy a relative advantage."
"There is a possibility," he said. Meanwhile, the cosmetics industry is taking a cautious stance, as the conflict between Japan and China could lead to increased loyalty to Chinese brands. A cosmetics industry insider said, "There is a possibility
"We can expect some degree of reflexive benefit, but it may be difficult to have high expectations due to factors such as growing loyalty to domestic brands within China."