Korea Tourism Organization launches joint public-private campaign to prepare for Busan's tourism reception ahead of BTS world tour

*This content was translated by AI.

Overcharging severely damages the image of a region and a country. In particular, the practice of exploiting large-scale events like major concerts to charge excessive prices must be eradicated to ensure a bright future.

The Korea Tourism Organization (CEO Park Seong-hyeok, hereinafter KTO), in collaboration with the Busan Metropolitan City government, Busan Jung-gu district, Busan Tourism Association, and the Korea Hotel Association Busan Branch, will launch a joint public-private campaign focused on tourism reception readiness in the Seomyeon area of Busan on the 8th, ahead of BTS's world tour concert in Busan scheduled for June 12–13.

Since January, KTO has been sharing tourism complaint data with the Busan Metropolitan City government to monitor the current situation. Going forward, the organization plans to strengthen collaboration with relevant government ministries and related institutional investors to prevent the recurrence of unfair practices such as overcharging at accommodations and unilateral cancellations of reservations. If necessary, cooperation with law enforcement authorities will also be pursued.

Additionally, KTO and the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism held a launch ceremony for the 'Fair Prices and Kindness in Korean Tourism Campaign' on April 30. In connection with this, a national participation tourism service monitoring campaign called 'Pleasant Intervention' is being conducted through the end of October. 'Pleasant Intervention' is a monitoring project where citizens directly inspect tourism services and identify improvement measures, open to all citizens. Participants can access campaign QR codes placed at various locations while using accommodations, restaurants, and shopping areas at major tourist sites nationwide, or visit the 'Recruitment of Pleasant Intervention Agents' event page on the 'Visit Korea' website to join the monitoring effort. A system has also been established to immediately report any discovered cases of overcharging, poor hygiene, or other illegal or improper practices, which will be forwarded to the relevant local governments and related institutional investors.

Min Byung-seon, head of KTO's Tourism Industry Division, stated, "As BTS's world tour is a global event drawing worldwide attention to Busan, fair pricing and courteous service are key factors determining Busan's brand value and the competitiveness of Korean tourism. Through continuous public-private collaboration, we will provide a travel environment where domestic and international tourists can enjoy their trips with peace of mind."

Meanwhile, VISITKOREA, KTO's integrated tourism platform offering content in eight foreign languages, has been providing tourism information centered on Busan since May 28, including introductions to local attractions related to BTS, guidance on areas in Busan with expected crowd congestion and traffic control zones, and information on how to reach Busan from major transportation hubs.

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*This content was translated by AI.