S.Korea woos Chinese visitors via temporary e-visa fee exemption

South Korea has waived e-visa issuance fees through year's end for Chinese visitors on group tours.

This is in response to the travel industry's request to create a "hospitable" atmosphere amid China's lifting of its ban on such tours to the country after six and a half years. More businesses will also accept mobile payments commonly used by Chinese like Alipay.

The Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism on Monday announced this measure and others under a plan to stimulate the market for Chinese tourists at an emergency meeting of economy-related ministers concurrently with another on export and investment policy.

The e-visa issuance fee of 18,000 won ($13.64) is exempted for Chinese group tour members through December 31. More visa application centers were also opened in China to complement those in Guangzhou, Qingdao, Shanghai, Chengdu and Wuhan, including one in Beijing last month and another in Shenyang on Monday.

From late this month, routes to and from China will see a big increase. The average number of weekly flights between both countries in 2019 was 1,100 but last month saw just 697 for a recovery rate of just 63.4%.

The number of hourly slots of such flights at Incheon International Airport will be raised from 70 to 75 between 4 a.m. and 11 p.m. and routes at provincial airports in Daegu and Busan will be increased. Resumption of car ferry transportation will also be done in order and allocation of cruise berths will be quickly granted.

Other steps include boosting shopping convenience for Chinese, over 80% of whom use simple payment services like Alipay and WeChat Pay. Around 250,000 businesses that accept such methods will be added mainly in Seoul's tourist area of Myeong-dong and Jeju Island, two favorite spots to visit for Chinese.

Those using simple payment methods are also eligible for immediate automatic refunds of value-added tax, with this benefit to be applied to WeChat Pay next month and Union Pay and Alipay from December.

Use of the smartphone ID authentication system was expanded from duty-free stores downtown to those at airport or seaport departure halls to allow Chinese tourists to buy duty-free goods without a passport. The minimum purchase amount to get a tax refund was also halved from 30,000 won to 15,000 won and limits on immediate and city refunds were raised.

Write to Young Chan Song at 0full@hankyung.com