More People Book Downtown Hotels for Respite from Summer Heat

The number of Koreans opting to check into luxury hotels in Seoul instead of vacationing abroad has more than doubled this year compared to last year.

In a survey of 7,000 households released Monday by the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport, 18.8 percent of respondents said they plan to spend their summer vacation at a luxury hotel in Seoul, up 9.8 percentage points from 2018.

They just want to have a restful, carefree getaway without being bothered by hectic schedules or the hassle of traveling all the way to a popular destination and back.

Some 19.3 percent of respondents said they want to take a rest in a quiet place instead of a crowded holiday destination. Still, nearly 60 percent said they will head to a beach or mountains to shelter from the summer heat, but that was a drop from some 70.9 percent in a similar survey last year.

Only 41.4 percent said they plan to go on vacation this summer and some 24.7 percent said they cannot afford to.