Yanolja Research Report Released
Low Prices and High Quality Competitiveness
“High-Quality Travel Destinations Based on Cost-Effectiveness”,
According to a report by Yanolja Research, tourism-related costs such as hotel accommodation and dining expenses in Korea are at the highest level of global price competitiveness when compared to major countries like the USA, France, and Japan. It is suggested that Korean tourism should position itself as “high-quality tourism based on cost-effectiveness.”
On the 23rd, Yanolja Research revealed that they published a report analyzing and comparing accommodation, transportation, and food expenses in major global tourist cities along with Seoul and Busan in Korea. Yanolja Research used the US dollar as a reference for international price competitiveness comparison.
The report indicates that the average hotel price in Seoul is $89.9, which is less than a quarter of the average price in New York ($419.4). It is also over 30% lower than major Asian cities like Tokyo ($140.5) and Singapore ($127.8). European cities such as Paris ($332.7), Barcelona ($271.8), and Rome ($257.4) had prices about three times higher than Seoul.
The report particularly highlights Busan’s average accommodation price of $53. Yanolja Research evaluated that “Busan sits at the pinnacle of overwhelming cost-effectiveness, offering 5-star hardware at a 3-star budget for global tourists.”
In terms of taxi services, the cost of a 10 km ride was $8.54 in Seoul and $10.05 in Busan, which was less than a third of the cost in London ($39.03), Berlin ($36.53), and Tokyo ($34.65). The cost of a meal at a typical restaurant in Seoul was also $8.79, significantly lower than New York ($25) or London ($26.80), equivalent to about a third. Considering Korea’s unique culture of free side dish refills, complimentary water, and no tipping, its competitiveness is even higher.
Hong Seok-won, a senior researcher at Yanolja Research, stated, “Accommodation prices, a no-tipping dining ecosystem, and world-class ultra-low-cost mobility in Seoul and Busan offer sufficient competitiveness compared to major global tourist cities as well as key Asian competing cities,” and argued that the “K-tourism strategy should be positioned as transparent and equal high-quality tourism based on cost-effectiveness.”