South Korea, which had virtually closed its border to individual travelers at the height of a coronavirus pandemic in 2020 and 2021, opened its gates in early 2022, started issuing short-term visas in May, and lifted regulations on compulsory COVID-19 tests for inbound overseas travelers in October.
Tourist hot spots that were once empty are bustling again with foreigners mainly from Hong Kong, Taiwan, Japan, Thailand and Vietnam. According to the state-run Korea Tourism Organization, 337,638 foreigners visited South Korea in September 2022, up 276 percent from the same period last year.
Naver Snow's subsidiary Cake has released "BTS Travel Book," an educational travel book including Korean speaking lessons in English and Japanese. The web service company said that foreign visitors can access travel information while learning how to speak Korean through BTS-related educational content.
"BTS Travel Book is a good book that contains a variety of travel information and Korean expressions. We hope to become a leading education company through challenges involving various Korean content," Cake's CEO Lee Choong-hee said in a statement on November 25.
Meanwhile, Tiger Air's direct flight from Taipei arrived in the southern resort island of Jeju on November 25 for the first time in two years and nine months, with 180 travelers aboard. Tiger Air will resume regular direct flights to Jeju three times a week.