Hanoi is bracing for upcoming BIGBANG concert, driving massive travel booking surge
Members of K-pop boy band BIGBANG perform during the 2024 MAMA AWARDS JAPAN at Kyocera Dome Osaka in Osaka, Japan, Nov. 23, 2024. Courtesy of Mnet
Flight prices, hotel bookings rise in Vietnam as fans prepare for K-pop group's return
Aviation and hotel industries are bracing for a BIGBANG windfall ahead of the group's October concert in Hanoi, Vietnam. The K-pop group, which helped drive the Korean wave in the country, commands a massive local following.
BIGBANG will bring its world tour to Hanoi at My Dinh National Stadium for two days on Oct. 24 and 25, local media reported Tuesday. Ticket prices are set between 1 million dong ($37.46) and 10.5 million dong. Ticket reservations are scheduled to begin Thursday, but demand for flights and hotel rooms was already rising as of Tuesday.
Round-trip domestic flights from Ho Chi Minh City to Hanoi for the weekend of the concert have reached 5 million dong, more than 1.5 times the usual price, Vietnamese news outlet VnExpress reported. Fares are expected to climb further as the concert dates approach. When K-pop girl group BLACKPINK performed in Hanoi in July 2023, one-way flights on the same route peaked at 9 million dong.
Accommodations are seeing a surge in bookings linked to the concerts. The Sheraton Hanoi Hotel reported that about 80 percent of its rooms are already booked for the concert weekend.
"Considering the high proportion of individual room bookings rather than group-tour reservations, the pattern is believed to reflect early bookings by fans planning to attend the BIGBANG concerts," a Sheraton Hanoi Hotel representative told VnExpress.
A teaser image for K-pop boy band BIGBANG's digital single "biiig" / Courtesy of YG Entertainment
Travel platforms confirm the growing demand. Lao Dong newspaper reported that global travel platform Klook's Hanoi hotel searches in July jumped by about 50 percent among Vietnamese users and 30 percent among international users compared to the same month last year. Traveloka searches for October trips to Hanoi more than quadrupled. Package tours featuring concert tickets, flights, hotel rooms, transfer services and meals have also gone on sale.
Vietnam is a major market for Korean pop culture. BLACKPINK drew 70,000 concertgoers to Hanoi in 2023, while BIGBANG member G-Dragon drew 100,000 fans over two days in Hung Yen Province in November 2025. By comparison, Vietnam's attendance record for a domestic artist is 40,000 spectators, set by My Tam at My Dinh National Stadium in December 2025.
Ticket booking page for K-pop group BIGBANG's Hanoi concert / Captured from CTicket's website
Vietnamese media outlets are closely monitoring the group's return. "The question is whether this BIGBANG concert can surpass the impact of BLACKPINK, whose two-day performance in 2023 generated an economic effect of about 630 billion dong," Lao Dong newspaper reported.
VietnamVN said selecting Hanoi as a concert venue demonstrates the fandom's scale and influence. "During the concert period, audiences will gather from across Vietnam and overseas, driving increased demand for flights, accommodation, dining and tourism services," the outlet said.
This article from the Hankook Ilbo, the sister publication of The Korea Times, is translated by a generative AI system and edited by The Korea Times.