Hotels and retailers are once again moving to capture a "purple boom" ahead of BTS's concert in Busan. With BTS's Gwanghwamun concert earlier this year having driven large-scale consumption and tourism demand, expectations are rising that the Busan concert will also generate significant economic ripple effects.
According to the retail industry Tuesday, Lotte Department Store will run a pilot exclusive shuttle bus for foreign visitors connecting Gimhae International Airport and Lotte Town Seomyeon from the 11th to the 14th, timed to the BTS Busan concert held on the 12th and 13th of this month. It also plans to expand its "Lotte Tourist Membership" service, which offers additional discounts on purchases at Lotte affiliates, to the Busan region. Lotte Department Store and its outlets will also hold a "K-WAVE" event combining shopping and experience content with displays of purple cheongsachorong (traditional silk lanterns) in BTS's signature color at major stores in the Busan area.
Shinsegae Department Store will open an official BTS pop-up store at its Centum City branch in Busan. Shinsegae was the first in the industry to feature a BTS pop-up store at its main branch during the Gwanghwamun concert. The Busan pop-up will introduce new merchandise specially created to commemorate the Busan concert, in addition to existing official HYBE goods.
Hyundai Department Store will hold the "K Street Festa," gathering K-fashion brands favored by foreign visitors at Connect Hyundai Busan. In particular, brands such as "Snow Peak" and "CK Jeans," for which BTS members serve as models, will run discount promotions. It has also prepared a "Welcome Gift" event offering foreign tourists holding a "Visit Busan Pass" a 10,000-won Olive Young gift card and free beverage coupons.
The retail industry sees a strong likelihood that the BTS Busan concert will lead to stay-based local consumption. In particular, domestic and international fans are expected to spend across air travel, lodging, food and beverage, and tourism products. Bloomberg previously analyzed that BTS's single Gwanghwamun concert created economic ripple effects of about 266 billion won across Seoul.
In fact, lodging demand in the Busan area has been rising rapidly ahead of the BTS concert, showing signs of expanding stay-based consumption. According to Lotte Hotels & Resorts, as of the 11th to 13th of this month, the proportion of foreign reservations at Lotte Hotel Busan rose 28 percentage points from a year earlier. Over the same period, L7 Haeundae by Lotte Hotel rose 19 percentage points and Signiel Busan rose 16 percentage points. The proportion of foreign room reservations at Matie Osiria rose from 0.2 percent last year to 42 percent this year, and Sono Moon Haeundae also expanded from 17 percent to 30 percent.
"While BTS's Gwanghwamun concert drove short-term consumption before and after the performance, the Busan concert creates stay-based consumption as people plan travel along with attending the concert, so the sales ripple effect is expected to be larger and broader," a retail industry official said. "Depending on the movement routes of ARMY, the name of BTS's fan club, there is a strong possibility that the BTS boom will spread across the entire Busan commercial district."
