Hundreds of thousands of people are expected to travel to Jeju Island during the upcoming Lunar New Year holiday despite growing concerns over the spread of the extremely contagious Omicron variant.
During the extended holiday period, from Saturday to Wednesday next week, 207,000 people are expected to visit the southern resort island, up 35.2 percent from a year ago, according to the Jeju Tourism Association.
The number of scheduled Jeju-bound flights during the period reached 1,244, up 5.9 percent compared with the volume of flights during regular periods.
The rate of room reservations at top tier hotels on the island stood at around 70 percent, and at around 80 percent for vacation homes, the association said.
Amid the expected influx of travelers in the coming days, local health authorities plan to strengthen virus response measures and request visitors be tested for COVID-19 within 48 hours of their expected arrivals.
