"Birds Block Electricity Bills"... Hotels Prepare for the 'Hokangs Season'

Electricity and City Gas Rates Both Up 5.3%
Hotel Industry Goes All Out to Cut Electricity Costs
Old Facility Inspections and Company-wide Campaigns Underway

The hotel industry is actively working to reduce electricity costs. When the peak hotel season begins in earnest, air conditioner usage increases significantly, and during the "hokangseu" season, the number of users of ancillary facilities such as food and beverage outlets, swimming pools, gyms, and saunas also rises sharply. Moreover, the so-called "hokangseu-jok" have a strong desire to freely use heating and cooling, which they could not fully enjoy at home, at the hotel, making the management of electricity and gas bills an important task for hotels every summer.

Chosun Hotel & Resort is posting energy-saving posters and lifestyle practice stickers throughout the company facilities as part of a company-wide energy-saving campaign.
[Photo by Chosun Hotel & Resort]

According to the industry on the 20th, Lotte Hotel plans to focus on inspecting and replacing outdated electrical facilities such as inverter motors and LED lighting from this year to improve energy efficiency. Regular inspections, which were conducted about once or twice a year, have been increased to quarterly inspections in some cases. They are also considering expanding projects to introduce renewable energy by utilizing idle spaces within the hotel. Last year, Lotte Hotel Ulsan became the first in the hotel industry to install solar energy facilities, and Lotte Hotel Jeju is currently preparing to introduce them.

Chosun Hotel & Resort has also launched a "Company-wide Energy Saving Campaign" since last month. This is intended to encourage hotel staff to reduce electricity costs ahead of the peak season and electricity rate hikes. Accordingly, energy-saving posters and lifestyle practice stickers have been posted throughout the company’s facilities, and periodically, "Energy Guardians" are selected from among team leaders to manage energy saving. Recently, they are considering introducing a system that provides incentives to individuals based on energy improvement performance.

The Grand Hyatt Hotel has also taken steps to reduce electricity consumption by completely replacing general halogen lamps in the hotel with LED lamps that have higher energy efficiency ratings. During lunchtime, when all employees are out, personal computers and air conditioners are turned off, and a self-campaign encourages using stairs instead of elevators below the third floor.

A hotel official said, "Energy-related issues are not a 'seasonal issue' but a problem that hotels must continuously bear. In addition to this electricity rate increase, we are continuously establishing and strengthening measures to reduce electricity costs in preparation for future variables," adding, "Once the peak season fully begins, we plan to prepare new measures depending on the situation."

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