(Yicai) June 13 -- South Korean tour bookings to China jumped more than seven-and-a-half times in May from a year ago, with many tourists opting to visit the new home of Fubao, a giant panda adored by the South Korean public who returned to China last month, according to the latest data.

South Korean group tour reservations to China soared 660 percent in May year on year and 25 percent from the month before, state broadcaster China Central Television reported yesterday, citing data from South Korean travel agency Hanatour.

Hanatour was the first South Korean travel agency to launch panda-themed tours after Fubao’s return to China. It offers three different tours which take tourists to two or three giant panda conservation bases and nearby cities such as Chengdu and Xi’an, depending on the package. Although prices are not cheap at between CNY4,000 (USD551) and CNY7,200, there has been an endless stream of enquiries.

Eight hundred customers have already made reservations for Hanatour’s tour of southwestern Sichuan province, which allows them to get close to giant pandas, since it was launched one month ago, the head of the China division of the Seoul-based travel agency said. Compared with other tours to China, sales have tripled in a month.

Fubao was the first giant panda to be born in South Korea. She was born at Everland theme park in July 2020 and became a much-loved public figure. Some 5.5 million people, around one-tenth of the country’s population, visited Everland’s ‘Panda World,’ from January 2021 to March this year.

Natural scenic areas such as Zhangjiajie, Hangzhou and Guilin have become top choices for South Korean tourists traveling to China. Mountaineering enthusiasts flock to places such as Changbai Mountain. And some popular scenic spots in the island getaway of Hainan and the remote northeastern Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region are already booked out in July.

To cater to the jump in demand, Korean Air has resumed flights from Incheon to Zhengzhou and Zhangjiajie after a hiatus of more than four years. Asiana Airlines will also restart routes from Incheon to Chongqing and Xi'an later this month.

Editor: Kim Taylor