By Hong Soon-do, Beijing correspondent, AsiaToday - Chinese tourists are expected to return to Seoul on China's big holidays in September and October, giving some much-needed momentum to the domestic tourism market that has been facing tough following the country's MERS outbreak. Nearly 250,000 Chinese are expected to visit Korea, as the central and local governments as well as companies have been giving efforts to attract Chinese visitors for the past three months.

Chinese tourists seen on the streets of Myeongdong, one of the most popular tourist districts in Seoul, on this year's Lunar New Year./ Source from search engine Baidu

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According to China's state-owned CNS, China's Mid-Autumn Festival is originally a two-day "public holiday" on the 26th and 27th. So Mid-Autumn does not combine with the National Day, a seven-day holiday which is celebrated on October 1. This year, however, Chinese people are allowed to take a nice 12-day break by taking three days off in between the two official holidays. As a result, the number of Chinese tourists travelling abroad will increase explosively. This is why Chinese tourists are expected to visit Korea during the holiday season.

In fact, Korea tour packages of big travel agencies in Beijing and Shanghai have been selling better this year than previous years. Some packages are already sold out. Gu Yue, president of Auga Travel Service, said, "The atmosphere is good. There are much more Chinese tourists who want to visit to Korea than in the previous year. There are even tourists who want to have a 12-day trip to Korea," showing expectations of increased demands during the holidays. "I travelled a lot in a group. This time, I want to travel by myself," said Xu Ao, a Beijing citizen who will be visiting Korea on holidays. Just like Mr. Xu said, there are .many Chinese tourists who are planning to travel alone or in a small groups.

There are many reasons for the growing number of Chinese tourists visiting Korea. First, fears over the MERS virus have subsided completely. Next, Korea's active actions to attract Chinese tourists, such as a travel fair held by Hotel Shilla in Shanghai on September 9, were effective. In addition, it's hard to ignore the fact that the Hallyu, or the Korean Wave, is spreading.

However, the tourism industry and local governments in Korea shouldn't be just happy with upcoming Chinese visits to Korea. Various problems, including a lack of tourist infrastructure and contents, could emerge once again. In short, it's a time to expand the tourism infrastructure and create killer content to win the hearts of Chinese tourists.