Published on
October 9, 2025
During the extended Chuseok holiday period, the South Korean hotel industry recorded near-full occupancy, with hotels and resorts throughout the nation fully booked. This year’s Chuseok holiday period, lasting ten days, featured an increase in family–a multi–generation family travel, as well as the popularity of urban staycations. Many hotels and resorts went out of their way to meet the demand by launching thematic promotions to make travel more appealing to the locals, allowing domestic travel, and increasing demand for autumn travel.
In the report, average booking figures for rated hotels and resorts in the country indicated almost 90% occupancy. Some of the more popular tourist areas had reservations made over a month in advance. The holidays blurred the lines of simple family get-togethers, as multi–generation vacations became the new normal. These changes in family leisure activities are what transformed the traditionally ‘stay at home’ holiday. This shift in the approaches for domestic holidays and travel has shown a change in the previous mind set of domestic travel, as more and more travel opportunities have more are emerging.
The ascendancy of travelling with extended family.
The most illustrious phenomenon of this year’s extended Chuseok holiday is family travel. Traditionally, Chuseok was a period where families would all huddle at home, celebrating the holiday by preparing dishes and venerating the ancestors. However, the extended holiday this year gave families the ability to shift their mental models around a holiday, and a significant proportion of the population decided to travel rather than stay at home.
These trends have also been pursued by hotels and resorts around South Korea, which offer family travel packages, spacious family rooms, and a range of amenities tailored to every generation. Travel from luxury resorts to downtown hotels has formed bespoke offers aimed at the entire family, which is inclusive of children, parents, and grandparents. These packages often comprise family rooms, designated activities for children, and all-inclusive itineraries, which decrease the burden of planning a holiday.
As indicated by the data, the boost in multi-generational travel is indicative of the shifting patterns in tourism, where families are opting to visit to build lasting memories together. For South Korea, this change is aiding in the revitalisation of domestic tourism, helping to carve out new opportunities for the hospitality industry.
Increase in Popularity of Urban Staycations
Equally important to multi-generational travel, urban staycations have also emerged during this year’s Chuseok period as a significant trend. More South Koreans are opting to relax and stay in the vicinity of their hometowns by spending their holidays in hotels and resorts as opposed to travelling a great distance. The long Chuseok holiday has further enhanced this trend, as it provided families with a perfect opportunity to escape from their day-to-day life without the added burden of travelling long distances.
Many hotels in the larger metropolitan areas of Seoul, Busan and Incheon are nearly at capacity as demand is flooding in for spa, dining and local tour packages promotional holiday addons. These luxuriously curated packages are intended to offer great convenience by marrying the use of a city hotel with the services of a day spa, tour, and fine dining for a short holiday escape.
Utilising public transportation for urban staycations is another advantage as it enables users of all ages to comfortably access cultural activities within the city, as well as zone out to rural activities within city proximity. While urban tourism is on the rise, it is safe to say that urban staycations would continue to be available within the framework of the country’s tourism services, offering all staycations to the residents as well as to the travellers.
The Chuseok Holiday Effects on the Tourism Sector
One of the most widely celebrated and most important traditional holidays for Korean people has always been a considerable period for traveling within the country. With the prolongation of the holiday period this year, the rest of the available offer days on the working calendar seemed to have encouraged as well as justified the fast-growing demands for rest closes, and recruited a high percentage of visitors to modern lodges, resorts, as well as traditional Hanok stays. This sudden boost in the commission income has provided a sudden, much-needed alleviation to the burdens the tourism economic sector has been undergoing the last couple of years, due to the pandemic.
The same relief has also been experienced by different sectors like the fast food services, walking and hiking activities, as well as tourism, which have all in turn reported a much higher interest in these activities and spending. Various gas stations also improved these offers by giving out free rest for a distant for the fast food services. Because of these activities, which in themselves could lead to a great tourism interest, Chuseok enhanced the experience for both sensitive travellers and residents.
The performance of the hotels during Chuseok holidays serves to strengthen the value of domestic tourism in South Korea’s overall tourism framework. It reminds us of the significance of domestic tourism in stimulating economic growth and tourism development in the country during the pandemic’s recovery phase.
Looking ahead: Maintaining Momentum for Autumn Travel
After the Chuseok holidays, Korea’s tourism and hospitality industry has already started preparing for the fall season. Family travel, particularly multi-generational travel, is trending, and there is a greater demand for domestic tourism. Strong interest in travel is being generated from summer hotel and resort promotional packages.
The South Korean government has promoted and supported domestic tourism for economic recovery, allowing its citizens to travel within South Korea as the border was closed to international travel. Chuseok’s results have bolstered the foundation for autumn and winter tourism
The undeniable charm of South Korea makes it even more attractive to travellers from all over the world. South Korea will bounce back as the preferred destination for international tourists as the travel restrictions from COVID ease. This will align with the strong domestic tourism demand, establishing South Korea as a premier East Asian destination.
Conclusion: A Bright Future for South Korea’s Tourism Industry
Rather than viewing the period of the extended Chuseok holidays as a time of rest, South Korea’s robust tourism infrastructure and domestic travel policies have indicated strong resilience. This, combined with the rise of multi-generational family holidays, ease of travel with urban staycations, and smart tourist board marketing, has created a strong synergy for tourism and South Korea’s surrounding economies. These realities, cumulated with prospective investments for the country’s easily accessible tourism attractions, add greatly to the South Korean tourism forecast.
