The upcoming 10-day Chuseok holiday is expected to see a spike in the number of family trips and single travelers, a global travel website said Sunday.
According to data provided by Skyscanner's local site that allows users to compare and plan trip costs, the number of round-trip airline tickets that were searched online from South Korea for the Sept. 30 to Oct. 9 period reached over 9 million. This is an 8.5 times increase compared with last year's Chuseok holiday that started on Sept. 14 and lasted five days.
Chuseok is similar to Thanksgiving in the U.S., with people spending time with family and friends. More recently, many have used the holiday to take extended overseas trips.
This year, in particular, with the government designating Oct. 2 as a temporary holiday and two other national holidays interspersed with Chuseok, people can enjoy the longest number of days off in decades.
Skyscanner said of the tickets being checked online, 52.3 percent were for people traveling alone. It said for families, the increase in searches surged 10.7 times.
Besides the sharp rise in people expected to go abroad, the Skyscanner website said South Korean interest in overseas trips have risen with many reserving tickets in the offseason to take advantage of cheaper fares.
It said there has been a spike in travel in the spring, fall and the winter months of January and February.
The website, moreover, said that with more budget carriers offering cheaper flights, people are able to go on trips more frequently.
