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Busan Metropolitan City Holds Price Stabilization Meeting Ahead of BTS World Tour Concert in Busan

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Busan Metropolitan City (Mayor Park Heong-joon) announced that it held a public-private joint countermeasure meeting to stabilize accommodation prices and reinforce tourism readiness so that domestic and international visitors can enjoy the BTS World Tour concert in Busan without inconvenience, ahead of the concert scheduled for June 12–13.

To prevent excessive rate hikes and unfair trade practices—recurring issues at large-scale events and festivals—Busan Metropolitan City held the “Price Stabilization Countermeasure Meeting in Preparation for Hosting the BTS World Tour in Busan” yesterday (22) at 2:30 p.m., chaired by Vice Mayor for Future Innovation Seong Heui-yeob.

The meeting brought together relevant departments of Busan Metropolitan City, 담당 departments from seven district offices where accommodations are concentrated (Haeundae, Suyeong, Busanjin, Dongnae, Yeonje, Jung, and Dong), the Busan Tourism Organization, and organizations related to accommodation, dining, and consumer affairs. Participants assessed current conditions and reviewed comprehensive response measures to establish a reasonable pricing order.

At the meeting, participants discussed ways to stabilize market prices by expanding the supply of public accommodation facilities, along with measures such as incentives, guidance and inspections, and voluntary self-regulation campaigns. Recognizing institutional limitations that make it difficult to directly sanction high pricing itself, Busan Metropolitan City explored the most practical measures it can implement.

As a special measure for future large-scale events, Busan Metropolitan City discussed temporarily opening public accommodation facilities—such as university dormitories and affiliated facilities, and youth training centers—to secure stable accommodation rates.

In addition, to encourage voluntary participation by expanding the designation and support of Good Price Businesses, Busan Metropolitan City decided to 집중 추진 the new designation of accommodation businesses as Good Price Businesses before the BTS concert. The City will streamline application procedures and improve the efficiency of review and designation processes to shorten the designation period as much as possible. It also plans to strengthen the competitiveness of designated businesses by expanding incentives and promoting them through social media and other media outlets.

The meeting also discussed measures to encourage voluntary participation and self-regulation efforts by business owners, including a public-private “price stabilization campaign” and a “business owners’ voluntary improvement pledge rally.” It further addressed immediate inspections and corrective actions for reported accommodation businesses, as well as promptly informing reporters of the results.

Based on the measures discussed, Busan Metropolitan City plans to establish an “always-on, sector-specific response manual” that can be immediately activated when large-scale events are held, and to take proactive steps to stabilize prices.

Under the manual, Busan Metropolitan City will swiftly and systematically implement four key tasks: (1) promptly identifying and securing available accommodation capacity, (2) conducting immediate on-site inspections and joint inspections when complaints are filed, (3) providing incentives and publicity measures such as Good Price Business designation, and (4) expanding public-private campaigns. Through these coordinated actions, the City aims to block potential unfair trade practices before events begin and to build a trusted tourism readiness framework for visitors to Busan.

Meanwhile, since the 16th, Busan Metropolitan City has been operating the “QR Reporting Center for Overcharging” on its website (www.busan.go.kr), maintaining an always-on response system. Joint inspection teams from the City and districts/counties directly visit reported businesses to check compliance with business obligations and to provide guidance and corrective measures, making every effort to ensure effective, on-the-ground management.

An industry representative who attended the meeting said, “It is unfortunate that the unfair trade practices of a small number of businesses are leading to criticism of the vast majority of accommodation businesses that operate in good faith.” The representative added, “Rather than condemning the entire industry using an ambiguous standard like ‘rip-offs,’ it is urgent for the central government to establish laws and objective criteria that clearly distinguish normal pursuit of business profit from unfair practices. We ask that the City and civic groups work together to actively propose legal revisions to the central government that reflect realistic market conditions.”

Vice Mayor for Future Innovation Seong Heui-yeob stated, “The repeated pattern of excessive rate hikes during large-scale events is a serious issue that undermines not only Busan’s city image as it approaches the era of 5 million foreign tourists, but also the brands and credibility of businesses.” He emphasized, “Focusing on the tasks discussed at today’s meeting—from securing available accommodation capacity to on-site inspections, incentives, and campaign expansion—all departments of Busan Metropolitan City and related agencies will respond with full force to build Busan into a fair and dignified tourism city.”