BTS Concert Boosts Travel Demand: Agoda Reports 8x Increase in Accommodation Searches

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[Asia Times = Reporter Kim Mina] Yeo-gi-eottae is rolling out the Mudeung Forest event to boost local overnight tourism. Nol Universe has signed a cooperation agreement with its CS partner firms. Agoda’s data shows both domestic and international travel demand spiked after BTS announced their comeback and tour dates. Asia Times reports these travel-industry updates for the 26th.

Yeo-gi-eottae is running the Mudeung Forest promotion in partnership with the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism, Gwangju Metropolitan City, and the Gwangju Tourism Authority.

The promotion supports lodging, dining and local experiences to encourage overnight stays around Mudeung Mountain. To kick things off, visitors to the Mudeungsan area in Gwangju can grab limited additional discount coupons of up to 40,000 KRW (about $30.00).

Coupons come in two types: up to 30,000 KRW (about $22.50) for accommodations and up to 10,000 KRW (about $7.50) for leisure tickets. Coupons will be issued through April 5, and are valid for check-in through the 26th. They can be used only for accommodations and leisure-ticket products selected for the Mudeung Forest project.

On the 25th, Nol Universe signed a CS subcontracting operation modernization and mutual cooperation agreement with four customer-service (CS) partner companies at the 10X Tower in Second Pangyo Techno Valley.

Key CS executives attended the signing, including Jongmin Kim, head of Business Support at Nol Universe; Mihyun Kim, director of CS Operations; Dogwon Ryu, head of Korea Employment Information; Jaehui Kim, executive director at Wall & Vision; Yeonhee Kim, director at Meta; and Eunyoung Park, senior executive at TCK.

Under the agreement, the companies will establish lawful, transparent operating systems and work to deliver an elevated customer experience. The pact’s main points include guaranteeing CS partners’ autonomous management and independence; unifying command through on-site representatives; strengthening CS partners’ service competitiveness; and expanding Nol Universe’s support for system infrastructure, policies and information.

Agoda’s data shows searches for accommodations in Goyang surged roughly eightfold on the day BTS announced their world tour schedule. Searches for Busan, which will host a June concert, rose 47%.

Agoda attributes the spike to BTS’s broad fanbase across Asia. The highest demand came from Japan, Taiwan, the Philippines, Hong Kong and China. Searches from the Philippines for Goyang and Busan increased more than sevenfold, while searches from Hong Kong climbed 145%. China, though not included on the world tour route, saw searches more than double as fans planned trips to Korea to attend concerts.

Agoda also found growing interest among Korean BTS fans in Asia-Pacific concert destinations: Kuala Lumpur led with a 22% rise, followed by Melbourne (16%), Bangkok (15%), Kaohsiung (10%) and Singapore (9%).