Japan Most Popular Travel Destination During Chuseok for Koreans

Japan is the most popular destination among Koreans for the upcoming Chuseok holiday, despite fears over the release of wastewater from the stricken Fukushima nuclear plant, a survey shows.Booking.com, one of the largest online travel agencies, surveyed accommodations Koreans booked on its website during the Chuseok holiday and found that three of the top five are in Japan, with Tokyo at the top, Osaka ranked third and Fukuoka fourth. The other two are Paris, France and Rome, Italy.A staffer at Booking.com said, "The weakening of the Japanese yen appears to have been the biggest factor. Japanese cities were not favored this much during Chuseok last year." 

But that was probably because Japan had not yet reopened to tourism due to the coronavirus pandemic. Since Japan resumed visa-free entry in October last year, some 400,000 to 600,000 Koreans have traveled to Japan every month, and the biggest draw was the weak Japanese yen, which recently dropped to an eight-year low against the won.Koreans ranked at the top among foreigners visiting Japan every month from January to August of this year.One travel industry source said, "Since the Japanese government decided to release the treated wastewater from Fukushima, there have been few cancellations of travel reservations to Japan."