Ahead of BTS's concert in Busan, some accommodation providers have been arbitrarily canceling existing reservations and then raising prices. In response, domestic online travel agencies (OTAs) have reportedly issued warnings to these accommodations.

Yanolja recently notified its franchise owners that penalties will be imposed if they arbitrarily cancel existing reservations. The main penalty involves adjusting the exposure ranking of the accommodations. For example, a franchise accommodation that previously appeared at the top when searching for Gwangalli, Busan, would be moved lower in the listings. This measure is interpreted as an effort to prevent consumer harm. Such exposure ranking adjustments could negatively impact the sales of franchise accommodations.

Yeogi Eottae also instructed franchise accommodation owners in the Gyeongsang region to pre-check whether rooms will be available for sale and to set rates during the period, and to prohibit unjust cancellations of confirmed reservations. This appears to be an effort to address price hikes and reservation cancellations during the BTS concert period.

The reason domestic OTAs have taken these measures is due to frequent incidents of some local accommodations arbitrarily canceling existing reservations and then raising prices. Some accommodations increased rates by more than ten times the usual price or demanded additional fees from existing reservation customers. For example, there were cases where a product sold for 300,000 KRW was unilaterally canceled and then resold for 1,500,000 KRW.

BTS is embarking on a large-scale world tour for the first time in four years and is scheduled to hold a concert in Busan in June. As a result, competition to attract inbound customers in the accommodation industry is intensifying. However, side effects are also occurring under these circumstances.

According to data from Hotels.com, travel searches surged within 48 hours after the BTS tour schedule was announced on the 13th of last month. Travel searches for Seoul increased by about 155%, nearly doubling, while Busan saw an approximately 2,375% increase, about 25 times more. Inbound travel searches for Busan by country increased by 10,545% from Japan, 7,100% from Hong Kong, 1,275% from Taiwan, and 835% from the United States. Hotels.com analyzed that this data suggests inbound travel demand was rapidly increasing even before official ticket sales began.

Busan City is currently operating a "price gouging QR report" system. A total of 120 damage reports were received in the past week, most of which involved cases where existing reservations were arbitrarily canceled and prices were raised. Busan City is reportedly considering opening public accommodations such as university dormitories and expanding the designation of reasonably priced establishments to resolve these issues.

These measures are evaluated as efforts to protect consumers and create a fair accommodation market. If unfair practices in the accommodation industry continue, consumer trust may decline, which could negatively affect the entire accommodation industry in the long term. Therefore, the actions taken by OTAs and Busan City are seen as essential responses for the healthy development of the accommodation industry.