"Fireworks View 1 Night 3 Million Won" Hotel Industry Price Gouging Ahead of Fireworks Festival

Reselling Also Thrives

As the Seoul International Fireworks Festival is set to take place next month around Yeouido, prices for nearby hotels with views of the fireworks are soaring to unprecedented levels.

Fireworks display at the 2022 Seoul World Fireworks Festival

This year's fireworks festival will be held on the 5th of next month. High-floor rooms in nearby hotels, renowned as prime spots for viewing the fireworks, are already mostly fully booked.

At Yeouido C Hotel, the accommodation fee for a Han River view suite, including taxes, has easily surpassed 3 million KRW. Other rooms are priced about 1.5 to 2 times higher than the usual weekend night rates.

Reselling booked accommodations at a premium is also rampant. Since early this month, online secondhand trading platforms have been flooded with listings for hotel stays with Han River views, 'fireworks view' restaurant dinner seats, and related products. A package at Yongsan N Hotel, which includes one night in a fireworks view room and a dinner buffet for two, originally priced at around 760,000 KRW, is being traded on secondhand sites for nearly double at 1.2 million KRW. Dinner packages for two with fireworks views are being sold at around 1 million KRW, far exceeding the original price of 750,000 KRW. Since the Seoul International Fireworks Festival, which was previously free, has switched to a paid event, official seats priced at 165,000 KRW including tax are also being resold at a premium.

Overcharging by Nearby Hotels Repeats Every Year

During last year’s fireworks festival, room prices at a 5-star hotel located in Yeouido ranged from a minimum of 650,000 KRW to a maximum of 6 million KRW. This represents a staggering sixfold increase compared to the previous weekend’s one-night rates (650,000 to 1,397,000 KRW). At that time, the hotel faced criticism for not setting accommodation fees on the day and only accepting waiting lists via phone calls, effectively 'weighing prices.'

Additionally, some vendors sold package products priced about twice as high as regular room rates, stating that "it cannot be guaranteed that the fireworks will be visible on the event day, and the hotel does not take responsibility."

Experts point out that while excessive price hikes by some hotels cause increasing inconvenience to consumers every year, there are realistically no effective measures to regulate this practice.