"They Canceled My Reservation Without Notice and Relisted at Five Times the Price... Trust in Accommodation Bookings Collapses"

Concert Tickets Sell Out in a Day, Room Supply Can't Keep Up
Paris Case Shows ‘Supply’ Is Key to Solving Accommodation Shortages for Major Events
Trust in Reservations and Supply Systems Matter More Than Price

"My reservation was confirmed, but the hotel unilaterally canceled it. Finding new accommodation was even more stressful than the concert itself."

Getty Images

Yu, a Japanese BTS fan, booked a hotel room near the concert venue immediately after the announcement of the BTS concert in Busan last March. At that time, the room price was in the 10,000 yen range, but as the concert date approached, prices rose rapidly. However, about a month before the concert, the hotel suddenly notified her that the reservation had been canceled. When she searched for another place to stay, the room prices in the same area had already exceeded 50,000 yen.

On April 12th, fans of the group BTS are enjoying the moment in front of the Goyang Sports Complex in Goyang City, Gyeonggi Province, where BTS's concert took place. Photo by Yonhap News

She wrote on social media, "There's nothing more devastating for a live concert trip than having your accommodation booking canceled." This was not only due to the additional accommodation costs, but also because she had to rearrange her transportation and travel itinerary.

Ahead of BTS's concert in Busan, local accommodation prices have been confirmed to have increased up to 7.5 times. Source: Korea Fair Trade Commission, Korea Consumer Agency

The Collapse of Reservation Trust

According to the tourism industry on June 11, the Korea Fair Trade Commission and the Korea Consumer Agency investigated 135 lodging facilities in the Busan area. They found that accommodation rates during the BTS concert week were on average 2.4 times higher than usual, with increases up to 7.5 times. For accommodations within a 5-kilometer radius of the concert venue, prices rose by an average of 3.5 times, and for those within a 10-kilometer radius of Busan Station, rates increased by 3.2 times.

Looking at the numbers alone, it may seem that the surge in accommodation prices is the biggest issue. However, experts do not see the price increase itself as the essence of the controversy. This is because rising accommodation costs during large concerts, international events, or sports competitions can be explained by market principles. In reality, consumers decide whether to book after checking the published prices.

The controversy arises after the transaction has been made. Recently, online communities and social media have been filled with stories of accommodation reservations being unilaterally canceled ahead of concerts, sports events, or international gatherings. Some users claim they witnessed the same room being relisted at a higher price shortly after their reservation was canceled.

For consumers, the problem is not simply paying more for accommodation. Losing a confirmed booking forces them to reschedule flights, transportation, and the entire travel itinerary. Especially for international visitors or those traveling from other regions, it can be much more difficult to find alternative accommodation, making the damage even greater.

The responsibility of accommodation platforms is also being discussed. Currently, most accommodation bookings are made through online travel agencies (OTAs) and lodging platforms. Although platforms do not set prices, since reservation confirmation, cancellation, and room relisting all occur within the platform, it is difficult for them to avoid responsibility for consumer protection. This is why measures such as stricter verification of cancellation reasons, sanctions against businesses with repeated cancellations, and restrictions on the resale of canceled rooms are being discussed.

Ultimately, what the BTS concert revealed was a more fundamental problem than price gouging. If consumers cannot trust their reservations, the competitiveness of the accommodation market itself is compromised. Trust, more than price, is what matters most.

The large-scale event accommodation shortage begins with room bottlenecks. The Paris Olympics saw a decrease in average hotel rates due to the expansion of short-term rental supply, and during the BTS concert in Busan, university dormitories, training centers, and templestays were utilized as temporary room pools.

Insufficient Accommodation Supply

Before last year's Paris Olympics, the hotel industry in Paris, France, anticipated a windfall. Some hotels raised room prices to nearly two or three times the usual rate, and the shared accommodation market was flooded with listings. However, the outcome was different from expectations. As the event approached, prices actually dropped. The reason was an increase in supply. According to industry and major international sources, rising accommodation prices during large events is a global phenomenon. However, it is the scale of supply, rather than demand, that determines the extent of price increases.

According to Reuters, the average hotel price in Paris during the Olympics rose to 342 euros at the beginning of summer, but as the opening approached, it fell to around 258 euros. Some hotels offered discounts of up to 70%. The French daily Le Monde analyzed that homeowners expecting an Olympic windfall rushed into the short-term rental market, resulting in an oversupply in both hotels and shared accommodation.

Dublin, Ireland, saw a similar trend. During the Bruce Springsteen concert, room occupancy exceeded 90% and the average daily rate (ADR) was over 250 euros. However, after the concert ended, room prices quickly returned to normal levels.

The 2024 Paris Olympic athletics race walking event is taking place on a course near the Eiffel Tower. The accommodation industry during the Paris Olympics had anticipated a surge in demand, but as short-term rental supply increased, hotel prices showed a downward trend ahead of the opening. Photo by Yonhap News Agency

The situation is not much different in Korea. According to the Korea Performing Arts Box Office Information System (KOPIS), last year, ticket sales for pop music performances at large venues with over 10,000 seats reached 530.1 billion won, an increase of 41.2% compared to the previous year. This accounted for 54% of the total ticket sales in the pop music performance market.

Large-scale concerts drive demand for accommodation, transportation, food and beverage, and tourism all at once. Especially for performances with a high proportion of out-of-town audiences, demand is concentrated on specific dates and in specific regions.

However, it is difficult to rapidly increase room supply in a short period. Hotels and resorts require permits, investment, and construction time. While concert tickets can sell out in a day, new rooms cannot be built in just a few days. This is why experts see "temporary supply chain establishment" as a solution to accommodation shortages, rather than building new hotels.

Ahead of the BTS concert, the city of Busan secured more than 1,300 alternative accommodation facilities by utilizing university dormitories, youth training centers, public institution training centers, and templestays. This was because they determined that existing accommodation infrastructure alone could not handle the surge in demand. The Korea Buddhist Culture Business Group also provided lodging for concertgoers by focusing on temples operating templestays in the Busan and Gyeongnam regions.

Park Sang-gon, a research fellow at the Korea Culture & Tourism Institute, said, "Issues of price gouging and disruption of transaction order should be viewed separately. Canceling an already confirmed transaction and reselling it at a higher price is a different issue from market principles." He added, "Building new hotels based on the assumption of long-term operation to meet one-off mega event demand is inefficient. For temporary tourist demand, like in Busan with the use of templestays and dormitories, it is necessary to have measures that can temporarily increase supply."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.