Jeju faces 10 mln tourists

The annual tally of tourists to South Korea's southern resort island of Jeju is expected to top 10 million this week.

As of Tuesday, the number of visitors to Jeju had reached 9.97 million, up 11.4 percent from 8.95 million during the same period last year, the Jeju provincial government said. The figure is divided into 7.71 million locals and 2.2 million foreigners.

The cumulative number of tourists is sure to top 10 million this week, considering that the daily average of visitors is 20,000.

The development is meaningful as even famous resort islands such as Hawaii of the United States, Bali of Indonesia and Okinawa of Japan have not broken the 10 million barrier.

Hawaii was visited by 7.99 million tourists last year, and Bali and Okinawa were visited by 8.95 million and 5.83 million respectively.

The number of tourists to Jeju Island topped 100,000 in 1966, 500,000 in 1977 and 1 million in 1983. The number of tourists reached 2 million in 1988, 3 million in 1991 and 5 million in 2005. The figure continued to grow rapidly from 2010 onward -- 7.58 million in 2010, 8.74 million in 2011 and 9.69 million in 2012.

Jeju officials expect, if this trend goes on, the local government will be able to easily attain its goal of attracting 10.5 million tourists this year, with 6.4 trillion won expected in annual gross revenue from tourism. This is a 5.2 percent increase from last year's 5.52 trillion won.

The provincial authority attributed the rapid rise of tourists to the increased local and global awareness of the island as one of the world's most attractive tourist destinations following its winning of three UNESCO honors. The U.N. agency designated it as a "biosphere reserve" in 2002, added it to the list of World Natural Heritage Sites in 2007 and awarded it the "geopark" status in 2010.

Improved ferry and air transportation and the local government's active marketing activities were also cited as reasons. The local government and the provincial tourism industry association say they will hold a ceremony to welcome the 10 millionth visitor and celebrate "the opening of the era of 10 million tourists." (Yonhap news)