Asia Times: Korean hotels threaten World Cup closure


	March 1, 2002	atimes.com

The Koreas

Korean hotels threaten World Cup closure

SEOUL - The South Korean hotel industry has reiterated that tourist hotels nationwide will close their doors to customers for the World Cup finals if the government does not relent on laws prohibiting them from operating steam baths and slot machines.

"With just a day left before the deadline for negotiations between the government and the hotel industry, the government is not offering any solutions to the proposal. Tourist hotels will cancel all reservations for World Cup games from March unless the government offers specific measures to boost the industry," said a source at the Korea Hotel Association (KHA).

Some local hotels are even moving to return contract deposits to the FIFA World Cup Accommodation Bureau Korea (WCABK), the Korean office of British accommodation agent Byrom Plc. With all KHA members expected to participate in the boycott if there are no countermeasures from the government, chances are high that hotels will start returning their tourist hotel certifications and canceling reservations, according to the source.

The Ministry of Culture and Tourism (MCT) said that it bans slot machines from tourist hotels to prevent the growth of gambling problems. The ministry, instead, prefers offering financial support to develop the hotel industry. At the moment, 218 of the 486 tourist hotels nationwide have contracts with the WCABK to provide 22,000 family rooms during the World Cup finals.

Meanwhile, the country's four sports beverage producers - Coca-Cola Korea, Dongaotsuka Co, Lotte Chilsung Beverage Co, and Haitai Beverage Co - are preparing to launch a variety of marketing activities in the lead up to the 2002 World Cup finals.

Coca-Cola, an official World Cup sponsor, plans to prepare advertisements that feature South Korean national soccer team players Song Chong-guk and Choe Tae-uk to mutually boost the soccer world's premier event and its sport drink "Powerade". The company also plans to release a new "Powerade" flavor at the end of next month.

Lotte Chilsung, which signed a sales agreement last year with US-based Pepsi-Cola, will focus on expanding its consumer base by offering its products to sports associations and at Internet events. It also plans to launch colorfully packaged new products.

Haitai will soon begin brisk marketing that targets World Cup fans from next month. The company will exploit its position as an official sport drink company for the national soccer team.

The industry leader Dongaotsuka plans to offer samples at many sport events, including the "Pocari Sweat Open Golf Tournament" scheduled for May, and is preparing a large sales event surrounding the soccer competition.

An industry source said that the sport drink market is expected to grow to 200 billion won (US$151.4 million) this year from 170 billion won last year, with World Cup fever boosting its recovery. South Korea and Japan will co-host the World Cup finals from May 31-June 30.

(Asia Times Online/Asia Pulse/Yonhap)