NewHong Kong tourists flock to South Korea to fill in void left by Chinese

South Korea is quickly becoming the top draw for Hong Kong tourists, as hotel vacancies rose and prices dropped following China’s boycott of everything Korean amid a diplomatic spat.

Searches for Seoul by Hong Kong holidaymakers on global travel search engine Kayak shot up by 100 per cent last month from a year earlier, while visa-free Jeju Island has also witnessed an uptick in local tourist interest recently, according to data from the US-based company.

“Interestingly, Seoul quickly climbed in the rankings as a top destination among Hongkongers, as many believe it will be less crowded and things are going to be much cheaper,”Kayak’s Asia-Pacific senior director Amy Wei said. “We expect this trend to continue for some time.”

With Korean shopping mall operators, hotels and airlines scrambling to slash prices to woo visitors from outside China, the fare to South Korea from Hong Kong had fallen 11 per cent in March, compared with the same month last year, according to Kayak’s survey.

“Hong Kong holidaymakers tend to be price sensitive, and they prefer places with fewer tourists,”Wei said.

The immense popularity of Korean dramas such as Descendants of the Sun triggered an influx of Chinese tourists to South Korea.