Hana Tour employees to return to work in October

Industry

Published: 13 Sep. 2021, 17:09 Updated: 15 Sep. 2021, 11:02

Hana Tour employees to return to work in October

Hana Tour headquarters in central Seoul [HANA TOUR]

Employees of Hana Tour, the largest travel agency in Korea, are returning to work next month, more than a year and a half after the company sent employees home during the Covid-19 pandemic.

Hana Tour announced Monday that of its 1,200 employees, 1,100 of will return to work starting in October.

Those not returning to work are doing so for personal reasons, like maternity leave, the company said.

The travel agency’s employees have been on both paid and unpaid leave since April last year due after the travel industry was crippled following the outbreak of the Covid-19 pandemic. Only a small number of workers that were regarded as necessary for the business were left to continue working.

“The latest decision marks Hana Tour’s preemptive effort to respond to the recovery of travel demand followed by the recent rise in vaccination rate,” said the company in a statement, while admitting that “uncertainties from Covid-19 still exist.”

“The booking rate for travel has hardly improved at this point,” said Hur Chan, a spokesperson for Hana Tour.

The company had around 2,500 employees before the pandemic.

Hana Tour reported 85.54 billion won ($73 million) in consolidated net loss in the first half of this year, up 16 percent on year.

BY JIN MIN-JI [jin.minji@joongang.co.kr]