From September 29th to June 30th, 2026, South Korea will temporarily implement visa-free travel for groups of three or more from China. The short-term and long-term impacts on the tourism markets of both countries can be roughly summarized as "three increases and one decrease":
• Platform Data: Half an hour after the policy was announced, searches for "Seoul" on platforms like Qunar and Ctrip instantly increased by 70–120%, and searches for group tours to South Korea during the National Day Golden Week increased by 60% daily.
• Customer Structure: The combination of visa-free travel and simplified group visa requirements will initially benefit middle-aged and elderly individuals, families, and residents of third- and fourth-tier cities. Travel agencies estimate that this additional demand will reach 700,000–1 million trips per year.
• Official Target: The South Korean Ministry of Culture, Sports, and Tourism has raised its target for Chinese tourists in 2025 from 4.6 million to 5.36 million. If achieved, this will directly boost South Korea's GDP by approximately 0.08–0.12 percentage points.
• Flights: South Korea's Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport has instructed airlines to add extra flights to China at airports such as Incheon, Busan, and Jeju. Korean Air and Asiana Airlines have increased their summer China capacity by over 20% year-on-year.
• Local Tours: The list of 170 "designated travel agencies" in South Korea, which will be announced by the end of August, will allow them to directly source Chinese customers. The Korea Tourism Organization is upgrading the Incheon Airport group express lanes and promoting the "Demand-Responsive Transit" (DRT) service to address bus shortages.
• Products: Ctrip, Tongcheng, and Spring Airlines have launched over 500 new group tours, including the "5-Day Busan + Gyeongju + Seoul In-Depth Tour" and the "4-Day Seoul Medical Beauty + Family Theme Park Tour," offering discounts 10–15% lower than individual tours.
• Per Capita Spending: By 2024, the average Chinese tourist in South Korea will spend 889,000 won (approximately 4,700 yuan) on credit cards, 1.5 times the amount spent by Japanese tourists.
• Industry Benefit Order: Duty-Free Shops (Shilla and Lotte have announced plans to add 20% Chinese-speaking guides in September) > Department Stores/Beauty > Restaurants/Medical Beauty > Local B&Bs. The Bank of Korea estimates that every additional 1 million Chinese tourists can generate approximately $500 million in incremental retail sales.
• Visa Fees: Group visa fees, previously 260–300 yuan per person, will be reduced to zero; travel agency package rates will generally be reduced by 200–400 yuan per person.
• Time Cost: Previously, group visas took 5–7 working days to obtain. With the visa-free policy, a group can be organized with just a passport and itinerary, shortening the decision-making process to less than 3 days.
• Entry and exit of entire groups is limited to designated travel agencies; individual travelers still require a visa. If groups are absent or the overstay rate exceeds 1%, the policy may end early.
• Domestic sensitivity to "low-cost tours combined with forced shopping" remains high in South Korea. The Seoul Metropolitan Government has announced that it will collaborate with the Tourism Police to conduct inspections in key shopping districts such as Myeongdong and Dongdaemun.
• Regional Competition: Thailand's 15% tax refund for medical aesthetics and Japan's relaxation of multiple-entry visa requirements will divert some high-end customers.
In the short term, the visa-free policy, combined with the peak National Day and winter vacation seasons, will lead to a significant surge in Chinese group travelers from Q4 2025 to Q1 2026. In the medium to long term, if the overstay rate remains manageable, the policy will likely become a permanent measure in 2026, with the possibility of further easing to individual travelers. For South Korea, this is a key step in restoring the number of Chinese tourists to 6 million after the epidemic and revitalizing duty-free retail; for Chinese travel agencies, it is the biggest policy dividend since the recovery of outbound group tours, and is expected to set off a new round of "South Korea charter flights" and "third and fourth tier cities customer acquisition war."