Last-second travel to 2018 Winter Olympics? Prices at least doubled at hotels near venues
GANGNEUNG, South Korea – Planning a last-minute trip to the Olympics?
Bring plenty of money.
Most of the major hotels convenient to venues are booked and the few places that have rooms are charging a hefty premium. Most hotels and guest houses at least doubled normal prices.
The government here has tried to discourage businesses from jacking up prices for the Olympics but it has no legal means of preventing private businesses raising prices.
“We did try to manage prices, but we cannot force them to do it,” Song Young Rok, a Gangwon Province official said. The province includes all Olympic venues.
There aren’t a lot of luxury hotels in the area, which is mostly rural.
One luxury hotel overlooking the water and near Olympics venues, doubled prices for the Winter Games, charging 1,320,000 South Korean wan, about $1,200 a night.
The hotel said it had no problem booking all the rooms at that price.
Officials said the price spikes could have been worse.
They said they initially had most problems with small hotels and guest houses, which raised prices four and five times their normal rates, about $50 to $100 a night, Song Young Rok said.
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Some of the small hotels also initially turned down reservations in the hopes of gouging customers later.
But the crowds didn't materialize. Now prices at smaller hotels have fallen to about double normal rates, Song Young Rok said.
Low demand helped force prices down. The initial slow sales at least partly reflected concerns over tensions with North Korea and fears Kim Jong Un, the country’s unpredictable leader, might try to disrupt the Games.
But before the Games began the North agreed to participate, sending a delegation that included Kim’s sister, Kim Yo Jong. During the visit she handed Moon an invitation to talk with her brother in Pyongyang.
A cheerleading troupe from North Korea has been a hit among spectators
The warmer relations might be triggering some last-minute decisions to attend the Games. Ticket sales are picking up.
About 934,000 tickets have been sold out of a target of 1.06 million, the organizing committee reported. The Olympics had their biggest sales day Feb. 10 when 67,000 tickets were sold.
The government has been worried about price gouging for months, saying it would crack down on hotels that are unsanitary or turn down reservations. It cannot regulate price.
Widespread complaints had surfaced on social media, with criticism over pricing and availability.
But officials say any problems have been contained.
Song-Jae Lim, an official at the Pyeongchang organizing committee, said prices are reasonable, despite the increases. He said he found his parents a small place for when they arrive next week.
"There are rooms available," he said.
Contributing: Thomas Maresca