KOREAN NET

Group tourists from China on the morning of Sept. 29, the first day of the temporary visa-free period for such visitors, head for a bus after arriving at the international cruise terminal of Incheon Port. (Yonhap News)

By Kang Gahui

About 20,700 tourists and crew from China on the morning of Sept. 29 arrived at Incheon Port on the first day of Korea's temporary visa-free program for Chinese group travelers.

Upon arrival at the port at 6:30 a.m that day, 2,189 passengers and 563 crew disembarked from the 77,00-ton ship MS Dream of the Chinese shipping company Tianjin Orient International Cruise Line.

Through June 30 next year, members of Chinese tour groups of three or more people traveling through domestic and international travel agencies can visit Korea for up to 15 days without a visa. Jeju Island will maintain its policy of allowing Chinese visitors, both individual and group, to stay up to 30 days without a visa.

The domestic retail sector including duty-free, department, convenience and cosmetic stores is gearing up for such visitors through sales, discounts and deployment of staff fluent in Chinese to raise marketing capacity.

The government predicts that its visa-free program will attract an additional one million Chinese tourists through the middle of next year.

kgh89@korea.kr