BUSAN — The Busan city government has launched a broad on-site inspection drive to curb excessive lodging rate increases and unfair business practices targeting visitors to the Busan Fireworks Festival.
The city said on the 22nd that it joined the Busan Tourism Association, the Busan branch of the Korea Lodging Association and the Suyeong, Haeundae and Nam district offices in holding a "fair pricing and hospitality campaign for lodging facilities ahead of the Busan Fireworks Festival" around Gwangalli Beach the previous day.
The participating organizations first held a preliminary meeting at the Suyeong-gu Culture Center, where they reviewed each body's efforts to stabilize rates and discussed ways to work together to prevent inconvenience to visitors.
They then carried out the on-site campaign at lodging businesses in the Gwangalli area, distributing leaflets covering reasonable rate-setting and advance notice of prices, a ban on unilateral booking cancellations and demands for unjustified extra charges, and the upkeep of room hygiene and cleanliness.
The city also plans to use a lodging rate monitoring program it developed in-house to closely analyze how rates move at accommodations near the festival site. It will consider identifying "fair lodging businesses" that keep rates reasonable and take part in voluntary price stabilization, and providing them with incentives such as promotional support.
"The Busan Fireworks Festival is a flagship event that draws large numbers of visitors from home and abroad, and it is important to earn their trust through fair prices and courteous service," said Na Yun-bin, director general of the city's tourism content industry bureau. "We will work with the lodging industry to create a tourism environment where visitors can enjoy themselves with peace of mind."