중국 유커들은 어떻게 세계를 바꾸고 있는가

As Golden Week travel hell descends upon the world, there is at least one place where one can go to get a bit of peace and quiet -- South Korea.
While it was Chinese tourists' top travel destination last Golden Week, South Korea now does not even make the top 20, according to a report from Ctrip about the 6 million mainland tourists heading abroad during this year's week-long holiday. Compared to last year, the number of Chinese travelers heading to South Korea over the extended holiday period has plunged by an astonishing 70 percent, the report said.
This dramatic change has come about as China has punished South Korea for the installation of the US-backed THAAD missile defense system, which Beijing views as a threat to its own national security and Seoul sees as a necessity to guard against its nuclear-obsessed neighbor.
In March, Chinese travel agencies were banned from sending tour groups to South Korea and Chinese travel companies were pressured to cut down on flights and cruises between China and South Korea. In one particularly sensational incident, 3,400 Chinese tourists simply refused to set foot on South Korean soil after their cruise ship docked at the resort island of Jeju -- once one of the world's top destinations for Chinese tourists.
Last year, over 100 Chinese tourists memorably spent their Golden Week holiday trapped inside the Jeju airport, denied entry to the island for not carrying with them hotel bookings and other travel documents.
That scene seems unlikely to repeat this year.
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"There used to be 300 to 400 guides for Chinese tourists on the island, but now there are no more than 50," Park Jung-kwan, a 39-year-old Chinese native who migrated to Jeju to work as a tour guide and driver, told the South China Morning Post. "Chinese are too embarrassed to come to South Korea."

This comes as a bit of good news for Jeju island residents who prefer a more peaceful life. Back in 2008, Jeju island implemented a 30-day, visa-free policy for Chinese tourists which turned the tiny island into a Chinese tourism gold mine. In 2016, the island received a record 3.1 million Chinese tourists, which accounted for about 90% of its total visitors from abroad.
But waves of Chinese tourists also led to an increase in crime and uncivilized behavior which alarmed locals. Last September, more than 11,000 of them signed a petition calling for an end to visa-
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A deserted shopping street in Jeju Island, South Korea. Chinese visitor numbers fell 67 per cent in the first seven months of this year.
Jeju and its around 600,000 population have benefited from the Chinese tourist dollar since 2008, when it started offering visa-free entry for Chinese citizens. The island is only a one-hour flight from Shanghai and two and a half hours from Beijing.

It received a record 3.1 million Chinese tourists last year, 36.8 per cent more than the year before, according to data from the Korea Tourism Organisation.

But between January and July this year the number of Chinese visitors fell to 589,100, 66.8 per cent lower than the 1.77 million in the same period of 2016.

After the package-tour ban, direct flights to Jeju from eight Chinese cities have been cut sharply and no cruise ships chartered by Chinese travel agencies have arrived at ports on the island since March.

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Local duty-free shop operator Hanwha Galleria Timeworld will close its store in Jeju International Airport by the end of the year as a result of the dramatic decrease in Chinese visitors. The store has been open for four years.

South Korea to miss out on Chinese tourists’ big Golden Week spending as political tensions linger

“At the worst time there was not a single customer,” said a man who gave his name as Sun and who works at a popular restaurant, Don Hyang-gi, on Jeju’s Black Pork Street, where tourists flock to eat a famous local dish, barbecued black pork – the meat of the local breed of black pig.

Nevertheless, some business owners remain upbeat.

“Jeju Island is one of the top resort destinations for domestic travellers, and the number of domestic travellers has actually increased by 10 per cent compared to last year,” said Peter Gassner, regional vice-president of hotel development for the Asia-Pacific at Marriott International.

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“Over 500,000 tourists are expected to visit Jeju during the Chuseok holiday season,” he said, referring to the traditional harvest festival holiday in South Korea.

Marriott is set to open its first Marriott Resort in Jeju this December, part of the planned integrated resort project Jeju Shinhwa World that also features a casino and amusement parks.

“We will attract not only domestic travellers but also international travellers from Japan and the rest of the Asia-Pacific,” Gassner said.

China’s consul general in Jeju, Feng Chuntai, sees Jeju’s woes over Chinese visitor numbers as only temporary.

“Chinese tourists will certainly come back,” Feng said in an interview. “Contradictions between two neighbours are normal, both sides are making efforts to make relations go in the right direction.”
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“중국인 여행객은 어떻게 세계를 바꾸는가.”

세계관광기구(UNWTO)에 따르면, 2015년 중국인 해외관광객은 1억2790만명, 이들이 쓴 돈은 2920억달러(약 335조원)다. 전 세계 해외관광 지출의 23%를 ‘유커’들이 책임졌다. 7억여명이 대이동을 하는 이번 국경절·중추절 연휴(1~8일) 기간에만 600만명이 해외로 떠난다.

중국 정부는 1983년 들어서야 해외여행을 허용했다. 홍콩, 마카오 같은 곳만 갈 수 있는 제한적 관광이었다. 본격적인 해외여행은 2004년 시작됐다. 불과 10년 만인 2014년, 해외관광객은 연간 1억명을 돌파했다. 탈렙 리파이 UNWTO 사무총장은 “빙산의 일각에 불과하다”고 SCMP에 말했다. 13억 중국인 중 여권 소지자는 6%에 불과하다. 아시아개발은행은 2030년이면 유커가 11억명이 될 것으로 추산했다.

관광객 규모가 급속하게 커지다 보니 부작용도 발생한다. 꾸준히 제기되는 ‘매너’ 문제다. SCMP는 “중국인 관광객들이 시끄럽고 무례하다는 악평이 많다”고 전했다. 과거 싱가포르 주재 중국대사관은 자국민 관광객들에게 ‘극장에서 소리치지 말라’ ‘비행기 물건을 갖고 내리지 말라’ 등 하지 말아야 할 행동을 담은 30쪽짜리 안내서를 배부했다. 에두아르도 산탄데르 유럽관광위원회 사무총장은 중국인들의 대규모 관광이 보다 ‘지속가능한 것’이 되어야 한다고 강조했다.

그러나 불편한 매너보다 유커의 지갑이 더 무겁다. 아프리카 빈국들은 중국 기업들의 대규모 투자가 더 많은 관광객으로 이어지길 고대한다. 아우베르투 아우베스 브라질 관광차관은 SCMP에 “중국인 관광객들의 관심이 쇼핑과 도시 관광에서 자연 경관으로 이동하고 있다”면서 “경제위기를 맞은 우리나라에는 축복”이라고 말했다. 껍깐 왓타나브랑쿨 태국 관광장관은 “유커의 트렌드 변화에 빨리 적응하지 않으면 열차를 놓칠 수 있다”고 말했다. ‘관광이 지역을 망친다’며 안티투어리즘이 확산되고 있는 스페인 바르셀로나, 이탈리아 베네치아 등 유럽의 대표적 관광도시들도 유커가 없으면 지역 경제가 제대로 돌아가지 않는 처지가 됐다. 고고도미사일방어체계(사드) 갈등 이후 한국도 그 위력을 절감하고 있다.

리파이 사무총장은 “좋든 싫든 중국인 관광객은 더 늘 수밖에 없다. 우리는 여기서 등을 돌릴 여유가 없다”고 말했다.