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The visa-free system, which allows foreigners to stay for one month without a visa, started again this month.
In Jeju, foreign tourists visited Jeju on a direct flight for the first time in almost two years.
Reporter Park Joo-yeon covered the story.
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Foreigners are pouring out of the international arrival hall at Jeju International Airport.
These are tourists who arrived on a charter flight from Bangkok, Thailand early this morning.
There were 178 people who entered Thailand without a visa using a group tour of a local travel agency.
It is the first direct flight to Jeju by a foreign tourist in two years and four months as international flights resumed at Jeju International Airport, which was suspended in the aftermath of COVID-19.
Two years and four months after the visa-free system was suspended, Thai tourists who visited Jeju received a safety travel kit as a welcome gift.
[웨우펀/태국인 관광객]
“I was frustrated because I couldn’t travel for two years due to Corona, but I’m glad I was able to come to Jeju like this.”
All of them were vaccinated against COVID-19, but after undergoing PCR testing at the Jeju Hospital, they started a trip of 3 nights and 4 days without separate isolation.
[수차야/태국인 관광객]
“The weather in Jeju is good, the waterfalls are beautiful, and I feel really good. I want to come to Jeju again next time.”
Even merchants who have had a hard time for more than two years are looking forward to the arrival of foreign tourists.
[이인호/상인]
“Because of the corona virus, people don’t come at all, but we see (foreign tourists) little by little, so we’re expecting a little bit more.”
From the 15th, regular flights will also be launched on the direct Jeju-Singapore route.
However, as China, which accounts for 60% of foreign tourists, is not granting charter charter permits due to the coronavirus situation, it seems that it will take more time for Jeju to recover its former tourism economy.
This is Park Joo-yeon from MBC News.
Video coverage: Kang Heung-ju (Jeju)
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