The Lunar New Year extended vacation is a holiday peak season, but this year travel agents are seeing little of the interest in group tours to Japan and South Korea that they have seen in the past. Travel agents believe this could be due to the increasing popularity of individual travel, high group ticket prices and increased flexibility of when people can take vacations.
In the past people would travel overseas over the Lunar New Year break, with Japan and South Korea being in greatest demand. Even with group prices soaring to double the normal cost supply still did not meet demand, and groups to Japan and South Korea were sold out a month and a half before the new year break.
This year, however, with less than a month to go before the break, a third of the places for these Japan/ South Korea group tours are still going begging, forcing some operators to lower their prices.
Photo: CNA
照片:中央社
Operators believe that people nowadays have more flexibility with when they take their vacation, and they don’t necessarily have to cram their overseas break into the Lunar New Year extended vacation along with everyone else. Young people also like to travel in their own groups and don’t have much interest in tour groups, preferring to go their own way and experience for themselves the local culture.
(CNA, translated by Paul Cooper)
春節連假是旅遊旺季 ,但往年爆滿的日韓旅行團,今年盛況不再;業者認為,可能和自由行當道、春節旅行團費太高,以及假期彈性有關。
往年很多民眾利用春節連假出國旅遊,其中以日本及韓國團最搶手,即使團費比平日暴漲一倍,仍供不應求,日韓團往往在春節前一個半月就銷售一空。
不過今年,距離春節僅剩一個月,日韓旅行團卻還有三分之一的空位,逼得有些業者降價求售。
旅行業者認為,這是因為現代人安排假期更有彈性,不一定要趕著春節連假出國人擠人。年輕人又喜歡自由行,對旅行團興趣不高,寧可自己走,以體驗當地文化。
(中央社)
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