A beach on Jeju Island. [Yonhap]
A beach on Jeju Island. [Yonhap]

Domestic tourist arrivals on Jeju Island have been declining since news broke that police had falsely closed a missing-person report on a woman who was later found dead.

According to the Jeju Tourism Association, domestic visitors fell year-on-year on all but one day during the 11-day period from Aug. 19 to Aug. 29 — the stretch over which the case involving Jang Mi-ran gained widespread public attention.

On Aug. 19, arrivals stood at 29,220, down 6 percent from the same day last year. The decline continued through the following days: 31,131 on Aug. 20 (minus 3 percent), 32,664 on Aug. 21 (minus 0.3 percent), 34,399 on Aug. 22 (minus 7.1 percent) and 34,559 on Aug. 23 (minus 5.1 percent).

The only exception was Aug. 24, when 37,428 visitors arrived — up 4.2 percent year-on-year — the same day Jang's body was discovered. Arrivals then fell for five consecutive days: 33,111 on Aug. 25 (minus 11.8 percent), 33,960 on Aug. 26 (minus 2 percent), 33,421 on Aug. 27 (minus 6.8 percent), 33,129 on Aug. 28 (minus 5.7 percent) and 31,185 on Aug. 29 (minus 13 percent).

The steepest drops came on Aug. 25 and Aug. 29, when year-on-year declines exceeded 10 percent — 11.8 percent and 13 percent, respectively.

For the month through Aug. 29, total arrivals reached about 1.26 million, up 1.1 percent from the same period last year, buoyed by growth in foreign visitors. Domestic tourists, however, numbered about 1.01 million, a 1.9 percent decline.

A lodging operator in his 40s in Hyeopjae-ri, Hallim-eup, Jeju, said he recently received a sudden cancellation from a family group. "The guests said Jeju seems dangerous because of this incident and canceled their reservation," he said. "I didn't expect guests to take this case so seriously."

Jeju Island authorities, however, cautioned against drawing a direct link between the recent drop in domestic visitors and the case.

They noted that the days of the week fall on different dates compared with last year, making simple year-on-year comparisons unreliable, and that the number of available domestic flight seats to Jeju has recently decreased — a factor that would itself limit the number of domestic tourists who can visit, regardless of demand.

"We believe the main cause of the decline in domestic visitors is the reduction in available flight seats," a Jeju tourism industry official said. "Even with fewer seats, the load factor has remained above 90 percent, so it is hard to say that demand for Jeju tourism has actually fallen."

The official added that the association had not yet detected a broad wave of cancellations attributable to the case. "However, we are concerned about the situation if it drags on," the official said.

Meanwhile, Jeju Governor Wi Seong-gon convened a meeting on Aug. 27 that brought together police, the coast guard, the fire department, municipal administrations and private safety organizations to draw up measures to strengthen a Jeju-specific safety network covering tourists and residents alike.

The measures include building a rapid reporting and response system — in coordination with accommodation providers and car rental companies — for cases where a solo traveler goes missing or loses contact, as well as expanding emergency reporting guidance and location information services at major tourist sites.


klee@heraldcorp.com