1. The entire globe is suffering from many hardships due to the pandemic. Could you brief us on the difficulties that Jeju’s tourism industry is facing?
(00:17 – 1: 05)
Jeju’s tourism industry, like other sectors, is confronting many difficulties amid the COVID-19 crisis. First, as inbound travels have been broadly banned,
Casinos, duty-free shops, and the MICE industry are having a hard time. Domestically, group tourists have largely diminished. Thus, tourism businesses targeting group tourists are struggling. Conversely, the number of individual tourists remains similar on-year or has only experienced a slight decline. Tourism businesses targeting individual tourists and self-owned businesses have not faced that many difficulties. In a sense, the tourism industry is becoming more polarized. Now, please let us know how to respond, given the current status of the tourism industry, to the pandemic.
(01:15 – 03:03)
I’d like to give different answers at the national and the local levels. At the national level, tourists are most interested in the matter of safety. The World Travel and Tourism Council suggests adopting the Safe Travel Protocols for Convention Centers, Meetings and Events. If we can quickly introduce this international standard and establish a certification system for tourism businesses that meet the standard, it will be an opportunity for tourists to visit areas with confidence. At the local level, I hope that we can use this difficult period as an opportunity for fair and good tourism. In fact, tourists complain about refund policies, travel insurance policies, and more. We need to reorganize the tourism management system to improve the elements that cause tourists dissatisfaction. Lastly, we should move toward eco-friendly tours. Amid the pandemic, people have become more interested in healing and wellness. And it would be difficult to bring about changes to the direction of tourism in Jeju without considering the island’s clean and natural environment. Therefore, we should put a lot of effort into capitalizing upon these two features.
2. The inbound tourism sector is decreasing significantly. Jeju, which largely depends on tourism, has many difficulties. What could be breakthroughs for current low growth in Jeju?
(03:17 – 05:15)
During the COVID-19 pandemic, it is structurally very difficult to expect foreign visitors. People understand this. Technically, inbound travel is possible, but every visitor is supposed to self-quarantine for 14 days. I don’t think many people will travel at the expense of this inconvenience. Of course, there are some exceptions that vary from country to country for business purposes. Nonetheless, the overall framework is similar. However, there is a movement to resume international tourism in Hong Kong, Singapore, Taiwan, Thailand, and other countries. It is referred to as creating a “travel bubble.” Translating it into Korean, you can see it s an exemption from the quarantine period. Hong Kong is visited by approximately 57 million tourists a year. Nearly 70% of them visit from mainland China. Tourists from mainland China also have to go through 14 days of self-quarantine. As a result, Hong Kong has seen almost zero tourists and its tourism industry is on the verge of collapse. Singapore is in a similar situation. Therefore, Hong Kong and Singapore created a travel bubble agreement last month to exempt travelers from the self-quarantine requirement. Probably, it will enter into force sometime this month. However, there is a precondition concerning the traveler’s hygiene requirement. The flights won’t be used indefinitely, but specific flights will be designated. The pattern thus considers safety and disease prevention. Previously, you stated that we need to understand the needs of the millennial generation to ensure they can bring profits as potential visitors to Jeju’s tourism industry. What changes are required to make Jeju more appealing to the millennial generation?
(05:29 – 06:55)
To trace back a little, before the pandemic, Jeju had a significant boom in tourism. There was a time when the number of tourists surged, and at some point, in 2017 or 2018, the number of young Korean tourists began to decline. In the past, Jeju attracted tourists with its natural beauty and healing factors. But recently, millennials seem dissatisfied with the island. For example, they seek value tourism, experiences over material possessions, and YOLO. All of these are now familiar to us. They also ask for fun experiences. I don’t think Jeju is well prepared for that. As a result, many young tourists chose Japan or Southeast Asia, and Jeju had a hard time attracting millennial tourists. But the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic turned the clock back to the old days. Tourists are now looking for natural tourism and healing factors again. However, my concern is that if Jeju fails to prepare tourism content that millennials want after the pandemic, we will face similar difficulties.
3. How much does Jeju rely on the tourism industry? And what do you think is the role of the tourism industry in the long-term development of Jeju?
(07:09 – 08:40)
It would be easy to understand Jeju’s dependence on the tourism industry in figures. In 2019, visitors to Jeju spent approximately 4.2 trillion won with credit cards. In 2019, Jeju’s gross regional domestic product was about 18.7 trillion won, and tourism accounted for 22%. Of course, cash is used in some sectors and some spendings were not recorded. Personally, I presume that would make it close to 30%. This means that Jeju’s tourism-related industries contribute nearly 30% to the local economy. At the national level, the tourism industry contributes about 2.8% to the economy. Given that the average contribution of the tourism industry to regional domestic product stays at around 10-15%, Korea’s rate is lower because its economy is based on the manufacturing of semiconductors and automobiles. It is relatively less dependent on the tourism industry. Comparing the local figure with that of the nation, Jeju’s tourism contributes 10 times the national average to society. That is my assumption. With the excellent natural environment and the symbolic designation as an island of world peace, Jeju draws attention as a venue for forums and MICE events. What measures would help revitalize the recently depressed MICE industry?
(08:54 – 10:57)
As earlier mentioned, the MICE industry involves a collective event, such as a conference. The MICE industry faces extreme difficulties because the pandemic has banned collective events. Other related industries are facing such a difficult situation that we are concerned about the collapse of these key industries. To tackle the problem, virtual forums have been held, as shown in the Jeju Forum for Peace and Prosperity. Therefore, the central axis has been tilted toward online meetings. Of course, Jeju has to prepare online meetings and online MICE events following this trend. But to add one more thing, Jeju is an island, and the island depends on an economy led by visitors. Without visitors from outside the island, the economy will face great difficulty. The economy led by visitors only starts to move with the movement of visitors. However, online meetings have made limited contributions to the local economy because there are no visitors from outside the island. Thus, Jeju’s MICE industry has to look to a hybrid MICE industry.
In other words, the opening and closing ceremonies are held online, while sessions and other events are more divided into small-sized events of up to 50 people, as are allowed to gather in the first stage of disease prevention guidelines. If we split the events into several meetings, for 30 to 50 people, and if we introduce a multi-venue concept to hold the events in various places,it will likely be an opportunity for Jeju to meet the quarantine standards and achieve economic benefits for the MICE industry.
