The number of South Korean tourists traveling to China has soared over the past two months, data from multiple Korean travel platforms showed, largely spurred by China's visa-free transit policy and the popularity of panda tours.

With China's continuous optimization of policies for travelers from abroad, currently, nationals from 54 countries can enjoy a 144-hour visa-free period when transiting through certain Chinese cities, and South Korea is one of them.

At the country's largest Incheon International Airport, a group of travelers were about to fly to Shanghai. Some of them told China Central Television (CCTV) that Chinese delicacies such as crayfish are quite appealing to them.

In May, the number of China-bound tourists served by Hana Tour and Modetour, two leading South Korean travel agencies, exploded 660 percent and 1,017 percent respectively year on year. Scenic areas with beautiful natural sceneries such as Zhangjiajie in central China's Hunan Province and Jiuzhaigou in southwest China’s Sichuan Province are among their most popular destinations.

Modetour also forecast Zhangjiajie to be the second most popular overseas destination for travels in July and April.

In addition, South Korean airlines are increasing flights to China to accommodate the surge in demand this summer. Korean Air has resumed routes from Busan to Shanghai and Incheon to Hefei staring from July 1, and plans to launch more flights from Incheon to Dalian and Tianjin. The number of its weekly flights on China-South Korea routes will be gradually raised from 146 in June to 195 in October.

The tourism sector is expected to get another boost as Fu Bao, the first giant panda born in South Korea who returned to China earlier this month, is about to celebrate her 4th birthday this month, and many panda enthusiasts are eager to visit Sichuan Province to see the celebrity panda.