The South Korean government is stepping up crackdowns and penalties on price gouging ahead of the Chuseok holiday and the autumn tourism peak season. It is also expanding a public-participation monitoring program for tourism services that checks whether businesses observe posted prices and maintain standards of courtesy and cleanliness.
The Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism and the Korea Tourism Organization said on the 22nd that they held the Korea Tourism Fair Pricing and Courtesy Campaign at Haeundae Market in Busan that day. The second-half event follows a first-half campaign launched in Myeong-dong, Seoul, in April, and drew participation from the Busan city government, local merchant associations, and the tourism, lodging and restaurant industries. Participants agreed to join the government's efforts to keep prices for tourism-related services at reasonable levels.
The ministry has been reviewing prices and service levels at lodging businesses and restaurants this year through the public-participation monitoring program. Through the end of last month, it had received 12,806 submissions. Complaints among them were forwarded to local governments and other authorities with requests for improvement, while 296 businesses that scored well on cleanliness, courtesy and adherence to fixed pricing were listed on an online Tourism Safety Map.
Penalties tied to fees charged to tourists have also been strengthened. Under revised rules, lodging businesses that fail to post their rates online or elsewhere, or that do not charge the rates they have posted, can face a business suspension from the first violation. The revised Enforcement Rule of the Public Sanitation Management Act took effect on July 14.
Penalties were also toughened for taxi drivers who overcharge passengers, who can now have their taxi driver's certification suspended for 30 days from the first offense.
