{"id":777024404,"date":"2025-03-24T10:04:02","date_gmt":"2025-03-24T13:04:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/?p=777024404"},"modified":"2026-04-22T00:33:52","modified_gmt":"2026-04-22T03:33:52","slug":"south-korea-to-introduce-visa-exemption-for-chinese-tour-groups-in-q3","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/south-korea-to-introduce-visa-exemption-for-chinese-tour-groups-in-q3","title":{"rendered":"South Korea to introduce visa exemption for Chinese tour groups in Q3"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>South Korean authorities aim to boost tourism amid weak domestic demand.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<!--more-->\n\n\n\n<p>South Korea.-  Choi Sang-mok, South Korea&#8217;s acting president has announced that visa exemptions for Chinese visitors will begin in the third quarter of the year. The move is aimed at boosting tourism at a time of weak domestic demand and ahead of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit in Gyeongju in the fourth quarter.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Last year, South Korea received 16.4 million visitors. That&#8217;s an increase of 48 per cent in year-on-year terms, but a drop from the 17.5 million visitors recorded in 2019 before the Covid-19 pandemic. Chinese nationals made up the largest group at 28 per cent. Authorities aim for 18.5 million visitors this year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Authorities plan to use the growing popularity of South Korean pop culture, including K-pop music and fashion, to attract more visitors. The government will also launch special tour packages related to Korean food and beauty products.<\/p>\n\n\n<div id=\"see-also-container\"><\/p>\n<div class=\"related-article\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"related-article__thumbnail\" src=\"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2022\/01\/16432079401640096670Macau-aeropuerto-300x200.jpg\" \/><\/p>\n<p class=\"related-article__text\"><span class=\"see-also-label-strong\">See also:<\/span> <a href=\"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/macau-visitor-numbers-dip-in-february\">Macau visitor numbers dip in February<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>South Korean authorities aim to boost tourism amid weak domestic demand.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":176,"featured_media":21341,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"is_press_release":false,"is_interview":false,"is_opinion":false,"focusai_summary":"South Korea's acting president, Choi Sang-mok, announced visa exemptions for Chinese visitors starting Q3 to boost tourism and counter weak domestic demand, targeting 18.5 million visitors this year. This initiative leverages Korean pop culture and special tour packages, with the APEC summit in Gyeongju also expected to contribute to visitor numbers.","focusai_entities":"Choi Sang-mok, South Korea, Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation, APEC, Macau","focusai_location":"South Korea, Gyeongju, Macau","focusai_target_profile":"ceo_executive (0.9), regulator (0.7), operator_casino (0.8), investor_analyst (0.9), supplier_vendor (0.7), journalist_researcher (0.9)","focusai_suggestions":[{"label":"GGR Impact Analysis","query":"What is the projected GGR uplift for South Korean integrated resorts and land-based casinos, particularly those targeting VIP segments, stemming from the anticipated increase in Chinese visitor arrivals due to the new visa exemptions?"},{"label":"Regional Competitive Dynamics","query":"How might South Korea's enhanced tourism strategy, including visa policy adjustments, impact the competitive landscape for high-value tourism and gaming verticals across the Asia-Pacific region, particularly concerning Macau and Japan?"}],"footnotes":""},"categories":[157,16338],"tags":[23907],"class_list":["post-777024404","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-business-news","category-east-asia-news","tag-land-based-casino"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/777024404","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/176"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=777024404"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/777024404\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":777024451,"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/777024404\/revisions\/777024451"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/21341"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=777024404"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=777024404"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=777024404"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}