[Photo Credit to SoYoung Choi]

After COVID-19 regulations were downgraded worldwidely, overseas travel boomed, and the number of local tourists to Jeju has subsequently decreased.

Jeju is an island that is located in the South of the Korean peninsula and is designated as World Heritage by UNESCO. 

The island itself has numerous splendid sites where they attract many people. 

As the demand for overseas travels increased, the supply for domestic airlines decreased, and several domestic flights were replaced for international flights. 

The altered flights headed primarily to short- and mid-distance countries like Japan, Vietnam, Thailand, and other Asian countries. 

Thus, it became harder for tourists and residents to book planes., especially the ones heading to Jeju, which ultimately resulted in price increases for these flights. 

According to a report by Jeju International Airport, associated with Korea Airports Corporation (KAC), an average of 463 domestic flights were flown with about 90,477 available seats and 75,488 passengers per day in September, 2022. 

However, these statistics decreased in December, 2022, with an average of 422 domestic flights flown with about 79,086 seats and 69,839 passengers per day.

Although flights and passengers flown increased in January, 2023 from December numbers, airlines supply and passengers decreased 9.7% and 7.6% respectively compared to 2022, an average of 433 local flights with about 90,848 seats and 73,614 passengers. 

Furthermore, the announcement of the Korean government's mandatory COVID-19 test for all entrants from China showed a reduction in Chinese tourists, who are the largest international tourists for Jeju.

Concerns grew for the March holidays when more people plan to visit Jeju than usual, the peak season. 

In response to the current issues, some airlines decided to chart more flights to the island temporarily.

Jeju Air announced plans to add more flights: 87 for Gimpo (Seoul) and Jeju routes and 24 for Busan and Jeju routes. 

Air Busan also responded with 48 more flights for Gimpo (Seoul) and Jeju routes and 60 for Busan and Jeju routes. 

On top of this, the Lieutenant Governor for Political Affairs, Hee Hyun Kim, emphasized and requested the needs and solutions to increase Jeju flights in a meeting with the Ministry of Land, Transport and Maritime Affairs.

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, people could not easily travel not only around the world but also within their country for a couple of years.

During the peak of the COVID-19, citizens were strongly recommended to maintain social distancing, which had an enormous negative impact on the tourism industry.

The dramatic drop in demand and remaining supply for flights eventually decreased prices of one-way tickets to almost 10,000 KRW at its lowest.

As COVID-19 regulations were alleviated, local tourist destinations saw an increase in tourists and profits.