President Moon Jae-in and Chinese President Xi Jinping will hold their second summit this week on the sidelines of an APEC summit in Vietnam. Analysts say the improving bilateral relationship may be welcome news for the local tourism industry. Joseph Kim explains.



Report

Recording
Noh Deok-gyu / Spokesperson, Ministry of Foreign Affairs
Korea and China have agreed to enhance exchanges and cooperation in order to normalize the bilateral relationship. I believe the two countries will make specific efforts on those fronts.
<씽크 : 노규덕/외교부 대변인>
"이번 한중 양측이 모든 분야의 교류협력을 정상적인 발전궤도로 조속히 회복시켜 나가기로 합의를 했습니다. 이번 합의를 통해서 그래서 관련 구체적인 노력이 이루어질 것으로 생각을 하고요."

Korea and China have agreed to cooperate on improvement of the bilateral relationship.

Beijing had slapped a series of measures on South Korean firms and banned tour groups from going to Korea in a move seen as economic retaliation for the deployment of the missile defence system, THAAD.

But China is expected to cease the retaliation.

[slug]
Thawing relations could be boon to local economy

Local businesses that have been hit hard by China’s economic measures appreciate the agreement.

[slug]
Businesses ready to welcome Chinese tourists again

A Jeju-based Chinese travel agency that has been closed since the deployment of THAAD in Korea is preparing for resumption of its business.

Phone Interview
Jeju-based Chinese travel agent
I’ve received many calls from China. Outbound travel agencies there say my business should be ready to begin accepting Chinese visitors in December.
<전화 씽크 : 중국계 여행사 관계자>
"중국에서 연락 많이 오고 있습니다. 저보고 준비 잘 하고 있으라고 단체 받을 준비요. (제주에는) 12월쯤에 손님 들어온다고 보면 되겠죠."

The Jeju Tourism Organization is also closely observing the situation in China.

Especially, the organization announced its plan to seek qualitative growth of the local Chinese tourism market rather than quantitative growth.

INTERVIEW
Lee Min-gyu / JTO Overseas Marketing Department
We will develop policies and support systems to improve the Chinese travel market in Jeju, which had focused on low-budget tours.
<인터뷰 : 이민규/제주관광공사 해외마케팅처>
"저가관광으로 편성됐던 중국인 관광 시장을 개선하기 위해서 정책적인 개발과 지원체계를 준비해서 추진할 예정입니다."

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Chinese arrivals plummet 73% in 2017

655,000 Chinese tourists had visited the island for the first nine months this year. That’s a 73 percent drop compared with the corresponding period of last year.

[Reporter] Joseph Kim
[Camera] Kim Yong-min

Insiders are paying attention to how a rosy bilateral relationship between Korea and China would affect the local tourism market.

Joseph Kim, KCTV