The decreasing price of oil has affected many Korean customers as it has been decreasing for almost 200 days. Currently, the oil price is about 1,400 won per liter. The diminution has benefited many Korean customers, but it also brought another effect; a surge in travel.
Oil price plays an important role when making decisions about traveling. Riding an airplane includes bunker adjustment factor or BAF, which is determined by the price of oil. As the oil price goes down, BAF price automatically becomes much more affordable. For instance, travelers had to pay about 300 dollars for BAF to fly to the U.S., but now they only pay 30 dollars. The same pattern can be seen in South Asian flights with BAF fee from 116 dollars to 12 dollars, and Japan trip with BAF for six dollars now. BAF price surely changes quite often depending on the oil price. However, in general, it has decreased 90% in average.
According to the research by Hana Tour, a travel agency, travelers to Japan increased 71%, America 37%, South Asia 13% than the past. This January, Hana Tour had 256,000 travelers, Modu Tour had 133,000, which was almost 30% higher than last year.
During the Korea’s traditional holiday such as Lunar New Year or Seolnal, the number of travelers is expected to be around 700,000 because the holiday falls on Wednesday through Friday. This gives a longer weekend and thus a better chance to go overseas with friends and family.
Many people think going on a trip abroad is good for the economy, but it is still a controversial issue. One of the benefits is that the economy can grow because traveling abroad lets airline companies to earn more profits temporarily. In addition to this, travel agencies also benefit. These conditions encourage money to flow and move within the society, which in turn help the economy grow. For example, last year Asiana Air profited thirty billion won in the fourth term, but this year the figure rose to one-hundred billion won.
However, increase in travel trend also has a dark side. As more people go shopping overseas, such as in Japan, China, and the U.S., this can decrease Korea’s entire amount of profit in tourism. The reason is mainly because Koreans spend more money in other countries than we earned by our tour industry.
Oil decrease provides us with several benefits but there also exists drawbacks. Experts criticize that this can lessen the profit made by Chinese and Japanese tourists entering Korea, because more money or too much it is being used by Koreans overseas.
veeni0502@naver.com
BY Han Eun-Bin
Naebalsan Elementary School
SMART & STORY 