On January 17, the Busan government said that the city has officially deployed a system to report unreasonable room rates using QR codes, allowing both domestic and international tourists to directly reflect cases of overcharging. After scanning the code, the complaint will be transferred to Korea Tourism Organization, and sent to local authorities and relevant functional agencies for handling.
To ensure that this system is widely used, Busan has distributed labels and posters to accommodation establishments, and posted instructions on the city's official website. In addition, from next week, Busan will establish inter-sectoral inspection teams in coordination with district authorities to conduct field inspections at hotels and guesthouses that have been reflected online.
According to the city representative, the inspection teams will review business conditions, compliance with accommodation regulations and strictly handle acts such as excessive price increases, changes in room booking conditions against commitments. Violations, if confirmed, will be recorded and directly affect the ranking and evaluation of accommodation establishments.
This tough move was made in the context of room rates in Busan, especially in the area near the station and Haeundae beach, rising sharply when BTS's concert was announced. Many hotel rooms were recorded to be priced from 600,000 won to 1.2 million won/night (equivalent to about 460–920 USD). On online booking platforms, a luxury double room at a luxury hotel in Busan is listed at nearly 785,000 won/night, more than twice as high as the previous week and significantly higher than the post-concert period.
In fact, this is not the first time Busan has faced a "price storm" every time BTS organizes an event. In 2022, during the group's free concert to support Busan hosting the World Exposition, some accommodation facilities were reported to have increased prices dozens of times compared to normal days, seriously affecting the city's tourism image.
