Tourists stroll past sake barrels displayed at the Meiji Jingu shrine in Tokyo, Japan, Jan, 21. EPA-Yonhap

For many Korean families, traditional holiday gatherings may be getting smaller this Lunar New Year, but suitcases are getting bigger. More than half of flight searches this holiday are for Japan, signaling a sharp shift away from the domestic travel boom that defined the holiday last year.

Flight search data from Skyscanner shows Japan accounts for 51.6 percent of all Lunar New Year holiday queries by Korean travelers, with Fukuoka leading at 23.3 percent, followed closely by Osaka at 23.2 percent and Tokyo at 13.7 percent. The only domestic destination to crack the top 10 is Jeju, at 11.6 percent — a steep drop from last year, when domestic destinations including Busan, Seoul and Jeju held the top three spots and made up 57 percent of all searches.

The reversal is driven in part by the calendar.

In 2025, an extra government-designated holiday created a nine-day break without requiring any annual leave, encouraging families to complete traditional ancestral rites before adding a domestic trip.

A merchant arranges a set of utensils for ancestral rites ahead of the Lunar New Year holiday at Seomun Market in Daegu, Feb. 3. Newsis

This year's official holiday spans just three days, from Feb. 16 to 18, pushing travelers to choose between going home for family rites or going abroad — and many are choosing the airport over the ancestral altar.

"Flight search volume for the early part of the year rose 4.12 percent compared to an already high baseline last year," said Jessica Min, a travel expert at Skyscanner. "With 44 percent of respondents saying they would travel during the holiday if it's with family, short-haul destinations that are easy to navigate with multiple generations are drawing the strongest demand."

The trend, widely described in Korean media as "airplane instead of the ancestral table," reflects a cultural shift. Industry data shows the concept of "multi-generational travel," where grandparents, parents and children vacation together in place of traditional rituals, has become the defining narrative of this year's holiday season.

Japan's appeal is anchored in the weak yen. With the currency hovering near historic lows against the dollar, dining, shopping and accommodation costs in cities like Osaka and Fukuoka remain significantly cheaper than in previous years.

Source: Korea Times News