Cheju Island Tourist Numbers Bloom

100,000 tourists came in crowds to Cheju Island between May 3 and May 5, the climax of the consecutive `golden` holidays. As newly married couples and families avoided traveling to other East Asian countries due to SARS, tourist companies of Cheju, such as accommodations providers and rental car companies in particular could enjoy a temporal increase in tourists.

The number of passengers who left Cheju through Cheju International Airport to other provinces also hit the highest record in history.

Korean Airlines said that the 89 domestic flights (34 special flights) which departed to Cheju Island on May 5 were already 96% (23,542 seats) reserved. The number of reserved seats was higher than the highest number of 22,001 (on the basis of departing planes) recorded last April 7. Asiana Airlines also had achieved a 98% reservation rate with 11,645 reserved seats out of 63 departing flights (14 special flights).

Prior to this, Cheju International Airport saw its highest number of passengers (58,504) on May 3 since the opening of the airport. This number has renewed the record for the largest number of passengers in one day recorded last August 4 (41,596).

The majority of tourists who visited Cheju were families and senior citizens who were sent by their children as a gift for the upcoming Parents Day. Nine golf courses were crowded to the limit as golfers who gave up going overseas flocked to Cheju Island.

“We are having difficulty getting a room because all accommodations were booked,” Park Dal-soo (31, Sungnam City, Kyonggi province) said, “Supju-Cozy was impressive. That is where the TV drama All-In`s set is located, but travel costs were a bit too expensive there.”

Lodging at guest houses went up 30,000 ~ 50,000 won to 70,000~90,000 won as tourists packed onto Cheju Island. Some souvenir shops also were exploiting the situation. On May 5, the last day of the consecutive holidays, Cheju International Airport was in chaos, seeing 35,000 tourists go through.

Airlines tried to take emergency measures such as creating eight temporary check-in counters in the departure waiting room, but could not handle the influx of passengers at departure gates, check-in counters, and boarding gates, causing annoyance and confusion among passengers.

jy788@donga.com