Southeast Asia rises as most popular destination for Koreans: report

Countries in Southeast Asia are rising as popular holiday spots for South Korean travelers, with the destinations being the most searched online, market data showed Tuesday.

According to travel metasearch engine Kayak, Bangkok and Da Nang came in first and second on a list of most frequently searched destinations by Korean travelers who are preparing trips for next year. 

Da Nang was the seventh most popular destination searched in 2017. Bangkok came in fifth on the same list.

Osaka, the most popular destination for Korean travelers in the previous two years, fell three notches to rank fourth for 2018. Tokyo dropped six places to come in ninth for 2018. Fukuoka also fell four notches from the previous year, coming in eighth for next year.

Travel destinations geographically close to Korea continued to be the most popular, the company said.

But many up-and-coming destinations for 2018 included distant getaways as well, the company added.

Among those was Tel Aviv. The year-on-year search volume for Tel Aviv increased by 288 percent, largely due to Israel’s 70th independence anniversary next year, the report said. In line with the increase in demand, flight prices for Tel Aviv rose by 28 percent, compared to the previous year’s average.

The year-on-year search volume for Luzon in the Philippines increased the most, by 310 percent, the report added. The search volume for Cambodia’s Phnom Penh jumped 279 percent making it No. 3 on the list. 

By Shim Woo-hyun (ws@heraldcorp.com)