Seoul Vs Daegu: Why HYBE Is Okay With Only One City’s “BTS Tourism”

To celebrate the 10th anniversary of BTS‘s debut, the Seoul Metropolitan Government has undertaken a vast project to light up some of the most iconic landmarks in the city in purple, which is the group’s representative color.

Seoul’s Namsan Tower turned purple for BTS’s 10th anniversary | CNN

The project, while honoring BTS, who have become the national pride over the past few years, also has created an influx of tourists. Many ARMYs plan to or have already flown to Seoul to be a part of this city-wide celebration, boosting tourism. To help these foreign visitors navigate better through Seoul, the city has even created a BTS map, taking them on a “pilgrimage” of all the BTS-related sites that are being promoted.

Seoul City and its tourism organisation have created a BTS map of Seoul for fans making the "pilgrimage" to celebrate the 10-year anniversary of the band. pic.twitter.com/bPo8riP39e

— Raphael Rashid (@koryodynasty) June 13, 2023

But media reports say there was one other hopeful city that had its bets to boost tourism similarly. When Seoul announced its plans to sponsor the festival for BTS’s 10th anniversary, the Daegu metropolitan city hoped it could draw tourists’ attention as well, given that it is the hometown of two BTS members, Suga and V.

BTS members V and Suga

So, the city had planned a BTS tour package centered on two murals of Suga and V in the city that were created by the individual members’ fan clubs. However, when the city reached out to BTS’s agency, HYBE, the company turned down the proposal of government offices in Daegu promoting fan-created murals as official tourist sites.

We reached out to BTS’s management company through an agency that organizes fan club events to ask about the plan…We were told by the agency that the management company was okay with the fan clubs creating murals but was opposed to local government offices like Daegu promoting them as tourist attractions.

—An official at Daegu’s Seo District Office, JoongAng Ilbo

According to the Daegu city official, Daegu has been turned down by HYBE on this issue before as well. Previously, the Metropolitan Government had issued a press release discussing their plans to create a BTS-themed tourist course in the city. HYBE then demanded that the project be scrapped, citing concerns about infringing the group’s publicity rights.

The question then remains, why is Seoul allowed to capitalize on the group but not Daegu? The essential difference between the two cities is that BTS is the honorary tourism ambassador of the former and has promoted the capital city through multiple campaigns over the past few years.

| @VisitSeoulTV/YouTube | @VisitSeoulTV/YouTube

Seoul will be hosting the main event of the BTS 10th anniversary FESTA at Yeouido Hangang Park on June 17. Since BTS’s leader RM will be present at the event for a live talk, the turnout is expected to be colossal. On the other hand, though Daegu is still struggling to find legal ways to attract fans to the city through BTS, it looks like the organic outreach is not disappointing for them either.

According to Daegu’s Nam District Office, which oversees one of Suga’s murals, about 10,000 people have visited the wall painting ever since it was completed last November.

Suga’s mural at the Nam District | @JK_bora97/Twitter

V’s mural, located in the Seo District, was sponsored by the singer’s Chinese fan club, which offered the city ₩30.0 million KRW (about $23,400 USD) for it. The district office spent an additional ₩35.0 million KRW (about $27,300 USD) to have the mural extended. The 58-meter long mural has now become a hotspot for ARMYs visiting the city.

V’s mural at the Seo District | thedrive.co.kr