S Korean businesses embrace Mid-Autumn Chinese tourist rush

South Korean media have claimed China's "Golden Week" will arrive soon, a sign that the country's businesses look forward to the return of Chinese tourists for the holiday as they launch diverse promotions aimed at the travelers.

According to the Sept 12 web report from Korean Asian Economy, the busiest times for Chinese tourists to travel abroad are during Sept 22 to 24, or Mid-Autumn Festival, and Oct 1 to 7, or National Day. South Korea's duty-free shops and cosmetics industries, which regard Chinese customers as "life-saving" to their businesses, see these periods as an exceptional opportunity, and even feel optimistic that sales volumes will return to previous levels.

Leading South Korean duty-free shops and local Chinese travel agencies have also created joint initiatives to attract Chinese tourists. The shop New World took the lead by newly accepting UnionPay QR code mobile payment and setting up designated UnionPay counters at all of its stores. Lotte, Silla and New World's duty free shops welcome code-scan mobile payment and UnionPay, which bring more convenience to shopping.

The report noted that these industries suffered from a crippling boycott during the 2017 Mid-Autumn Festival, when Chinese tourist numbers sharply declined. However, South Korea saw a gradual increase in visitors from China during the first half of 2018. Data from the Korea Tourism Development Agency showed that 410,000 Chinese came to the country in July, an increase of 45.8 percent year-on-year. Meanwhile, the cosmetics industry plans to target Chinese customers with multiple categories of promotions beginning next week, in the lead-up to the coming National Day holiday.