{"id":356663,"date":"2026-03-25T04:29:11","date_gmt":"2026-03-25T04:29:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/356663\/"},"modified":"2026-03-25T04:29:11","modified_gmt":"2026-03-25T04:29:11","slug":"army-drop-thousands-fly-across-the-world-and-power-a-rm20b-btsnomics-boom","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/356663\/","title":{"rendered":"ARMY drop thousands, fly across the world \u2014 and power a RM20b \u2018BTSnomics\u2019 boom"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

SEOUL, March 25 \u2014 For Maria Herrera, a utility employee from Vancouver, the trade-off to watch a performance by Kpop supergroup BTS on Saturday in Seoul was simple: Weeks of extra shifts at her job and roughly 5,000 Canadian dollars (RM14,400) for a week in Seoul.<\/p>\n

The 58-year-old was willing to make the trip without having secured concert tickets as she and her two daughters were looking forward to soaking up the pre-concert atmosphere and pampering themselves afterwards with Botox, haircuts and some Korean barbecue.<\/p>\n

Maria and her daughters are part of a global wave that analysts at NH Investment & Securities say could generate a windfall of 8 trillion won (US$5.32 billion) across the 44 cities that will host BTS\u2019 world tour \u2014 a phenomenon that they have dubbed \u201cBTSnomics.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWe don\u2019t do our hair in Canada,\u201d Maria said, emerging from a crowd of fellow ticketless \u201cBTS ARMY\u201d members waiting in the crisp air in downtown Seoul\u2019s Gwanghwamun Square 10 hours before the show. She added that because they were in Korea, they would treat themselves.<\/p>\n

\u201cFor myself Botox, facials, Potenza and all that stuff,\u201d Herrera said. \u201cAnd then we do our hair care here, like we do haircuts, we do our colour and all that.\u201d She added that her crew also planned to travel to Toronto for another BTS concert.<\/p>\n

\"Kpop <\/p>\n

Kpop group BTS pose for photographs upon their arrival for \u2018BTS The Comeback Live Arirang\u2019 concert in central Seoul March 21, 2026. \u2014 Reuters pic<\/p>\n

While turnout for Saturday\u2019s show fell short of the 260,000 that was projected, the real financial power lies with fans who are eager to spend on services and merchandise.<\/p>\n

\u201cPerformances by artists with a global fandom like BTS do not end with ticket sales, but drive tourism consumption throughout the entire city,\u201d said Lee Hwa-jeong, a researcher at NH Investment & Securities, adding that the 8-trillion-won estimate included direct revenue and secondary consumer spending.<\/p>\n

Past record-setting world tours by pop superstar Taylor Swift and British rock band Coldplay have also been credited for helping local economies, though economists have generally been sceptical about concerts or big sporting events providing more than a small boost to a country\u2019s economy.<\/p>\n

BTS\u2019 world tour will kick off on April 9 in the South Korean city of Goyang and will make stops in Las Vegas, Los Angeles, London, Paris, Tokyo, Singapore and other major destinations.<\/p>\n

Analysts have said ticket sales could rise as high as 2.7 trillion won because BTS plans to use a centralised stage for the shows, which would have no obstructed views and could increase audience capacity.<\/p>\n

\"Fans <\/p>\n

Fans of Kpop group BTS react on the day of the \u2018BTS The Comeback Live Arirang\u2019 concert in central Seoul March 21, 2026. \u2014 Reuters pic<\/p>\n

South Korea is already reaping the benefits from BTS\u2019 Saturday reunion. The band had been on a hiatus of more than three years because some members needed to fulfil their mandatory military service.<\/p>\n

In the week leading up to the free concert, sales of BTS merchandise \u2014 from glow sticks to blankets to dolls \u2014 rose 430 per cent from a week earlier at Shinsegae Duty Free\u2019s headquarters in Myeongdong.<\/p>\n

At the Lotte Department Store in central Myeongdong, revenue for the weekend jumped 30 per cent from a year earlier; for Shinsegae, it jumped 48 per cent.<\/p>\n

The number of inbound tourists for the first 18 days of March was up 32.7 per cent from a month earlier, data from the Ministry of Justice showed, pushing up hotel rates in downtown Seoul.<\/p>\n

Hotel rates in Busan, where BTS will perform in June, have surged as much as seven times at some venues.<\/p>\n

Stephanie Gonzalez, another ticketless BTS fan from Mexico, said she flew in two weeks ahead of the concert to experience \u201cARMY life to the fullest.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Fans <\/p>\n

Fans of Kpop boy band BTS cheer during the \u2018BTS The Comeback Live Arirang\u2019 concert in central Seoul March 21, 2026. \u2014 Reuters pic<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve been visiting pilgrimage sites like the old BigHit office and Hakdong Park,\u201d the 25-year-old said, referring to sites famous among fans because BTS members had been seen there in the past.<\/p>\n

\u201cI wanted to experience every place BTS has been to make the most of this trip,\u201d she said, adding that she spent about 90,000 Mexican pesos ($5,028) altogether even after staying at a no-frills hostel.<\/p>\n

And in addition to the tourism boom, local fans are getting in on the action.<\/p>\n

Huirin, a Seoul resident in her 50s, says she took a cab to Gwanghwamun on Saturday after getting her hair done to \u201csave some energy on commuting.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cAre you kidding me? No woman \u2014 I mean, no ARMY \u2014 would go to a BTS event without dressing up,\u201d she said as she proudly showed off the BTS merchandise in her bag and the purple shirt that she wore beneath a black outer layer. \u2014 Reuters<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"SEOUL, March 25 \u2014 For Maria Herrera, a utility employee from Vancouver, the trade-off to watch a performance…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":356664,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11],"tags":[172908,47624,114,184,168602,85,46,172907,172909,33819],"class_list":["post-356663","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-economy","tag-btsnomics","tag-busan","tag-business","tag-economy","tag-gwanghwamun-square","tag-il","tag-israel","tag-maria-herrera","tag-myeongdong","tag-vancouver"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/356663","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=356663"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/356663\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/356664"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=356663"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=356663"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=356663"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}