As visitor arrivals increase, the overcrowding at Jeju International Airport edges up safety risks. The airport is currently running at overcapacity; it welcomes a total of 30 million passengers, almost four million more than its original capacity.
Jeju Island, while home to only 660,000 people, is soaringly popular with 15 million tourists annually.
As visitor arrivals increase, the overcrowding at Jeju International Airport edges up safety risks. The airport is currently running at overcapacity; it welcomes a total of 30 million passengers, almost four million more than its original capacity.
The government’s plan to build a new airport in southern Jeju to triple the number of tourists to 45 million by 2035, has drawn protests across the island and in Seoul.
Faced with fierce opposition, the government has recently suspended the plan to build, and will re-evaluate Seogwipo – the second largest city on Jeju Island - to determine whether it is a proper site for airport construction.
The island’s commercial success has also seen the island teetering on the brink of several other problems, including overwhelming amounts of garbage, noise, traffic jams. Jeju's underground water has recently been found to be "in danger of being exhausted”.
With the island’s mass tourism, Jeju’s local businesses, rather than benefitting directly, are facing competition from foreign-owned companies, who own many of the island’s commercial facilities.
According to Kang Won-bo, director of the protesters' group, with 80% of visitor arrivals coming from China, Chinese tourists who arrive on the island in groups through Chinese travel agencies have been patronising Chinese-owned businesses.
“Jeju natives complain that they have been forced out of businesses because of foreigners and major hotel chains. Meanwhile, they all share the cost of mass tourism. I think that's unfair,” Kang said.
When it comes to the issue of mass tourism, Jeju is hardly alone. Around the world, famous destinations such as Venice and Barcelona are also suffering from a massive influx of visitors.