Gwangyang City Cracks Down on Overcharging at Summer Vacation Spots

Inspection of Commercial Activities at Tourist Sites in Preparation for Social Distancing Easing and Vacation Season

[Asia Economy Honam Reporting Headquarters, Reporter Heo Seon-sik] Gwangyang City, Jeonnam announced on the 30th that it will intensively crack down on overcharging at summer resorts during July and August (2 months) in response to the relaxation of COVID-19 social distancing and the full-scale summer vacation season.

The city has established the 'Summer Vacation Season Resort Price Stabilization Measures' and will focus on eradicating overcharging, enforcing price tag display, and the use of legal measurement units through promotion and crackdowns.

This crackdown will be conducted as a joint inspection involving six departments including the Regional Economy Division, Agricultural Support Division, Food Hygiene Division, Tourism Division, Plum Horticulture Division, and Steel Port Division. It will target summer resorts such as the four major valleys of Baegunsan Mountain, guesthouses, amusement parks, and campgrounds, which are representative summer vacation spots.

The inspection items include △ unauthorized business operations at resorts △ failure to display price tags and overcharging beyond displayed prices △ failure to indicate the origin of products △ unfair trade practices such as hoarding △ hygiene conditions △ and sale of substandard food products.

The city will establish an organic cooperation system with the Price Countermeasures Committee and related organizations and identify difficulties through communication with merchant associations.

Additionally, from July 1 to August 31, the city will operate a Resort Unfair Pricing Report Center (☎061-797-2360, 061-762-0012) to receive reports of unfair pricing, verify on-site, and take corrective action.

Lee Hwa-yeop, head of the Regional Economy Division, said, “With the full-scale vacation season approaching, it is expected that citizens and tourists, who have accumulated fatigue from long social distancing, will visit local resorts in large numbers,” and added, “We will continuously educate to prevent any inconvenience such as overcharging.”

He continued, “We ask those operating restaurants, guesthouses, and campgrounds around the four major valleys of Baegunsan Mountain to cooperate in maintaining commercial order by observing kindness, hygiene, and displayed prices as if their own family were using the facilities.”

Meanwhile, Gwangyang City operates a Consumer Counseling Office and a Mobile Consumer Reporting Center to handle consumer complaints and damages and to promote campaigns for improving unreasonable transaction structures or practices.

Furthermore, by disclosing price trends of dining out and personal service fees on the city’s website, the city provides consumers with rational choices and induces price increase restraint.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.