The Busan Tourism Association (BTA) condemned the government’s unilateral policy of forcing the tourism industry to sacrifice, and urged the government to immediately step in to support the dying tourism industry.
On the 19th, BTA issued a statement calling for the establishment of criteria for exemption from self-quarantine for inbound travelers taking into account the characteristics and circumstances of overseas regions, the expansion of the number of international routes at Gimhae Airport, the recovery of weakened travel sentiment, and the provision of incentives to attract tourists. In this statement, BTA said, “In order to overcome an unprecedented crisis, it has been participating in the government’s quarantine policy, risking a bone-chilling pain. In particular, he has been complying with policies that are fatal to the local tourism industry, such as the Incheon International Airport immigration policy and self-quarantine, for the second year in consideration of the cause. In the meantime, small businesses have gone bankrupt, and workers have lost their jobs and are living in difficult days every day,” he said.
First, he urged the establishment of a self-quarantine exemption standard for inbound travelers in consideration of the characteristics and circumstances of each region overseas. We cite the different quarantine policies for Guam and Saipan as an example. As both Guam and Saipan are U.S. territories, the local quarantine situation is stable and the geographical location and entry conditions are similar, but it is difficult to agree that it is difficult to agree on the difference in self-quarantine exemption based only on whether or not a travel bubble is signed.
He emphasized the urgent need to expand international routes. At the end of last year, the government declared ‘with Corona’ and allowed Gimhae Airport to operate Guam and Saipan routes to gradually expand international flights at regional airports, but it was not practically helpful due to the incomprehensible limit of once a week flights. pointed out This is because, due to the limited flight schedule, only 8-day tour packages can be organized. According to the ‘plan to expand international flights at regional airports’ announced by the government in October last year, BTA demanded that Gimhae Airport expand the number of international routes it can operate and ensure that each route operates at least twice a week.
The BTA also said, “The government will not only impose policies that are incomprehensible and ineffective to travelers who have waited for the day they will return to work without losing hope, even in a situation where they are being forced to take a day off from work. He urged the tourism industry to come up with and implement a policy that can save the lives of people in the tourism industry.”
By Kim Seon-joo, staff reporter [email protected]