Squid Game Leads To Jeju Island's Increase In Popularity Outside Of Korea

Source: Netflix

So far, over 111 million households have watched Squid Game on Netflix and the impact of its popularity has been seen in many ways so far.

For example, after seeing the dalgona game in an episode, many stores abroad have begun to sell the dalgona candy. Also, people have been buying the green tracksuits and masks seen in the show to wear for Halloween parties.

Jeju Island (Source: Getty Images)

Now, Jeju Island, which was only mentioned once in Squid Game, is also seeing a rise in popularity. Jeju Island is the representative tourist spot of Korea and Newsweek reported that interest in the island, also known has "Korea's Hawaii" has seen a sharp increase outside of Korea.

Jeju Google Trends score (Source: Insight)

Google Trends showed that from October 10-16, Jeju had a score of 100, meaning that searches for the term were at its peak. It had a score of 19 at this time last year and remained around 20 throughout the year.

Its rise in popularity coincides with the release of Squid Game, as the score for Jeju on Google Trends began steadily rising from 17 after its release.

Google Trends related searches (Source: Insight)

Also, other search words people have been using with Jeju Island are "squid game", "Jeju Island squid game", "Jeju Island tourist spot", etc, showing that they became interested in the island after watching the show.

Sae-byeok and Ji-yeong (Source: Netflix)

Surprisingly, Jeju Island was only mentioned once throughout the nine episodes.

It can be heard in the emotional episode 6, "Gganbu". Kang Sae-byeok tells Ji-young that she saw Jeju Island on TV and thought it looked like a foreign country, not a part of Korea, and wishes to go with her younger brother after the game.

Jeju Island (Source: Getty Images)

International viewers might have found it interesting that the place North Korean defector Sae-byeok wanted to visit most was Jeju Island rather than a popular tourist destination abroad. In addition, foreign news outlets have also been referring to the island as "Korea's Hawaii", drawing more attention.

The Korean tourism industry believes it is a good opportunity to take the lead in the global tourism market and is eager to attract potential tourists as the new "living with COVID-19" phase is set to begin soon in Korea.

An official in the tourism industry predicts that as the popularity of the Squid Game continues and flights begin to open, they will see more more foreigners visiting Jeju Island again.

This article was paraphrased from: Insight