Gmarket reports rise of niche travelers in this year's first half

The full-scale resumption of overseas travel by people in South Korea has fueled the trend of "niche travelers" who travel abroad whenever they have time.

Gmarket on Sunday said the number of flight reservations from Jan. 2-17 surged 84% from the same period last month based on an analysis of outbound travel.

By age group, those in their 20s and 30s accounted for the largest of niche travelers with 48%, followed by the 40-50 group with 45% and those age 60 and older 6%.

The difference between the off- and peak travel seasons is also getting blurred.

For example, 26% of scheduled departures were in March to April, up four percentage points from the same period in 2019.

Travel destinations in Japan and Southeast Asia, which are easily accessible from South Korea for short trips, comprised the top 10 list of preferred tourism spots.

Japan had the top three destinations, with Osaka seeing a 119% jump in flight reservations from the same period in 2019, followed by Fukuoka with 114% and Tokyo 53%.

Write to Ji-Hee Choi at mymasaki@hankyung.com