More Koreans Go on Holiday, Eat out over Lunar New Year

More Koreans are spending their Lunar New Year holiday on vacation rather than at big family gatherings in their ancestral hometowns.

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According to the Korea Airports Corporation, 203,719 people went abroad during the holiday last year, up a whopping 74.2 percent from six years ago.

The corporation expects more people this year to make domestic trips rather than go abroad because the break is relatively short, from Friday through next Monday.

On eBay, domestic vacation bookings like accommodation and tickets to waterparks have nearly doubled from last month.

More Koreans are also opting to dine out instead of preparing lavish food at home. One housewife said, "My parents-in-law agreed to eat out about five years ago and we've been doing it ever since. We just discuss which restaurant".

Kim Hye-jun, a food blogger, has helped curate an online list of restaurants that open over the holiday. "People still cook and eat traditional holiday food but not throughout the whole period. They're preparing less and less food themselves and head to a restaurant instead".

To cash in on the trend, more restaurants ranging from Korean to Chinese and western cuisine open for business through the entire period or close only on Lunar New Year's Day.