Jinhae Gunhangje and Hampyeong Butterfly Festival Followed by Another
Poor Food Price Controversy... "Is This Overcharging?"
The controversy over 'local festival price gouging' that draws massive crowds has reignited. Following the Jinhae Gunhangje Festival and the Hampyeong Butterfly Festival, this time it is the Namwon Chunhyang Festival.
On the 31st, a post titled ‘Terrifying Food Prices at Namwon Chunhyang Festival’ was uploaded on an online community. The Chunhyang Festival is a local festival held annually in Namwon, Jeonbuk, and was held for five days from the 25th to the 29th. It is reported that 400,000 people visited this year, marking its 93rd edition.
The author, Mr. A, said he traveled to Namwon with his family and “arrived late in the evening, but there were no open restaurants, so we tried to have a simple meal at a riverside night market near our accommodation,” adding, “It was a place where professional restaurants and local organizations operated together.”
However, Mr. A became upset when the ordered food arrived and started taking pictures of the food. The problem was the excessively high prices. He posted a photo of the whole pig barbecue menu, saying, “We ate four pieces, one per person as a drinking snack, but it seemed too much, so I started taking pictures from then on,” and added, “This cost 40,000 won.” The photo showed a dish with a few pieces of meat that looked like a half-plate portion.
Mr. A also revealed a photo of a seafood pancake that he did not even touch. The seafood pancake priced at 18,000 won was estimated to be a small portion about the size of a palm. The 25,000 won stir-fried beef tripe was mostly vegetables.
Mr. A expressed dissatisfaction, saying, “When I asked the staff if the portion was originally small, they said this was the normal amount,” and “Because the portions were small, I ordered two bowls of noodles and additional stir-fried tripe as drinking snacks. The stir-fried tripe is 25,000 won, and they said this is a bit more than usual because I said the portion was small.”
Earlier, at the Hampyeong Butterfly Festival held in Hampyeong County, Jeonnam, until early this month, visitors’ complaints grew as a bowl of fish cake soup cost 10,000 won and a cup of silkworm pupae was priced at 4,000 won. Also, at the Jinhae Gunhangje Festival held in early last month in Jinhae, Gyeongnam, pork barbecue with small portions was sold for 50,000 won, and a skewer of fish cake was sold for 3,000 won, drawing criticism.
Previously, the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism and the Korea Tourism Organization announced that June would be promoted as the ‘2023 Travel Month’ and stated that, in cooperation with the Korea Tourism Association Central Council and regional and industry-specific tourism associations nationwide, they would intensively inspect unfair practices such as price gouging, as well as hospitality services, cleanliness, and safety management at tourism contact points nationwide around June.
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