With BTS's Busan concert approaching, the hotel and retail industries are once again moving to attract large numbers of ARMY, the name of the BTS fan club. As BTS's Gwanghwamun concert earlier this year drove massive consumption and foreign tourism demand, expectations are rising that the Busan concert will also bring significant economic ripple effects.
According to the retail industry on the 4th, Lotte Department Store will pilot a foreign-only circular shuttle bus 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. Lotte Department Store and outlets will also hold a "K-WAVE" event at major stores in the Busan area, combining displays of purple cheongsachorong (traditional lanterns) — BTS's signature color — with shopping and experiential content.
Shopping benefits exclusive to foreign customers will also be expanded. During the event period, all department stores in the Busan area will offer Lotte gift certificates worth 5 percent for purchases above a certain amount. For purchases of more than 1 million won with a Visa card, Lotte gift certificates worth 10 percent will be presented depending on the purchase amount tier. In addition, the "Lotte Tourist Membership" service, which offers additional discount benefits for purchases at Lotte affiliates, will be expanded to the Busan region.
Shinsegae Department Store will open an official BTS pop-up store at its Centum City branch in Busan. Shinsegae Department Store also presented the industry's first BTS pop-up store at its flagship store during the BTS Gwanghwamun concert. The Busan pop-up will newly present specialized products commemorating the Busan concert, in addition to existing official HYBE goods.
Hyundai Department Store will hold a "K Street Festa" gathering K-fashion brands favored by foreigners 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. The store has also prepared a "Welcome Gift" event offering a 10,000 won Olive Young gift card and free beverage coupons to foreign tourists holding a "Visit Busan Pass."
The retail industry believes the BTS Busan concert is highly likely to lead to stay-type consumption in the region. Domestic and foreign fans are expected to stay in Busan and spend across linked sectors such as air travel, accommodation, food and beverages, and tourism products. Projections suggest this could generate economic effects in the hundreds of billions of won. Bloomberg earlier analyzed that a single BTS concert at Gwanghwamun generated economic ripple effects of about 266 billion won across Seoul.
In fact, ahead of the BTS concert, accommodation demand in the Busan area is rapidly increasing, showing signs that stay-type consumption will expand. According to Lotte Hotels & Resorts, the proportion of foreign bookings at Lotte Hotel Busan as of the 11th to 13th of this month rose 28 percentage points from the same period last year. 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 bookings at Matie Osiria rose from 0.2 percent last year to 42 percent this year, while Sono Moon Haeundae also expanded from 17 percent to 30 percent.
The Korea Tourism Organization has also launched large-scale online and offline marketing to expand foreign tourists' visits to the region in time for the BTS Busan concert. For one month in June, the organization will promote 10 major tourist attractions in Busan to foreigners in connection with the "Be Local Campaign" on Naver Map. It also plans to create a special Busan page on the web and application of "Visit Korea," the integrated Korea tourism platform, to provide transportation and safety information in one place.
A retail industry official said, "While the BTS Gwanghwamun concert drove short-term consumption before and after the performance, the Busan concert creates stay-type consumption in which fans plan travel along with attending the concert, so the sales ripple effect is expected to be larger and more wide-ranging. Depending on ARMY's movement routes, the BTS boom is likely to spread throughout Busan's commercial districts."
