New hobbies emerge for those in their 20s and 30s: Hiking, camping, golf

Hiking, camping and golf, activities often associated with older people in South Korea, are gaining popularity among people in their 20s and 30s in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, a report said Tuesday.

According to Gmarket, an e-commerce platform operated by eBay Korea, sales of items related to the three outdoor activities jumped by 24 percent in the first half of this year, compared with a year earlier.

The e-commerce platform attributed the rise in popularity of the three activities among younger people to COVID-19 and social distancing.

Over the same period, purchases of those goods by customers in their 40s and 50s increased 13 percent, Gmarket said.

By category, hiking products saw sales grow by 30 percent on-year. The purchase of hiking products among customers in their 20s surged by 87 percent, the highest growth rate for any age bracket.

Camping has also grabbed the attention of younger customers. Gmarket said purchases of camping equipment by those in their 20s and 30s increased by 33 percent on-year. Sales of tents and tarps rose 47 percent, general camping goods 34 percent, cooking gadgets 26 percent and camping lanterns 19 percent.

For golf products, the volume of customers in their 20s and 30s increased by 13 percent, Gmarket said. Sales of golf club parts jumped 47 percent, women’s golf apparel 22 percent and men’s golf apparel 8 percent.

“With COVID-19 restricting people’s movement, people appear to be choosing activities such as hiking, camping and golf, which are deemed to carry less risk of infection,” a Gmarket official said.

By Jo He-rim (herim@heraldcorp.com)