1st national Labor Day holiday drives 55% surge in domestic travelers

Korea witnessed a historic surge in domestic travel this May, fueled by the designation of Labor Day as a statutory public holiday for both the public and private sectors. The Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism said Thursday that the number of domestic travelers on May 1 jumped 55 percent compared to the same period last year, while travel-related credit card spending climbed 40 percent. The shift in holiday status fundamentally altered the country's travel landscape over the three-day period from May 1-3. Data analyzed by the ministry, the Korea Tourism Organization and Korea Railroad Corp. showed that an average of 11.9 million people left their homes daily to travel. The rail network, in particular, struggled to keep pace with the demand, setting consecutive single-day records with 576,000 riders on May 1 and 577,000 on May 2. While Seoul remains the nation's primary hub, the most dramatic growth occurred in the provinces. Visitor numbers to nonmetropolitan regions rose 70 percent year-on-year, a trend government officials are eager to capitalize on to bolster local economies. Ac

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