Jeju’s tourist arrivals reach 1.1 million in May amid increase in COVID-19 infections

Jeju’s tourism association expects the island's monthly tally of tourists for May to top 1.1 million, the fifth time since the outbreak of COVID-19 for the monthly visitors to exceed.

There were three other times it exceeded 1 million last year — 1.13 million in August, 1.08 million in October and 1.14 million in November, and 1.07 visitors in April.

Jeju Island attracted 1,089,690 tourists who arrived from May 1-30 With an additional 31,000 visitors expected on the last day of May.

The monthly number of Jeju tourists topped one million for the second straight month as more people flock to the island to escape from depression caused by COVID-19, according to the association.

Local tourists, including newlyweds, visit Jeju as an alternative to overseas travel due to coronavirus-related restrictions.

While Jeju has become increasingly crowded, there was a daily average of 12.6 COVID-19 infections reported over the past week.

Cluster infections have also occurred on the island recently.