Chinese carriers may adjust capacity on routes to South Korea following a warning by the China National Tourism Administration (CNTA) cautioning Chinese citizens to be careful when traveling to South Korea.

According to CNTA, an increasing number of Chinese tourists are being denied entry into South Korea and face long wait times before being deported back to China.

Industry sources said travel agencies began to drop tourism packages to South Korea in the second half of last year as tensions between the two countries increased.

Many Chinese carriers are watching the situation closely and may adjust capacity, or cancel the routes altogether, which could harm the South Korean tourism industry.

Currently, 22 carriers (Chinese and Korean) operate Sino-South Korea routes and industry analysts predict some big changes may be coming.

Last year, 17.4 million tourists traveled to South Korea; Chinese tourists accounted for 47.5% of that total number.