Sawt Falasteen - Tickets to toothbrushes: BTS's money-making machine

Ahead of the K-pop giants' massive comeback concert in Seoul on Saturday and the start of a world tour, AFP looks at how the mega-group earns money for itself -- and others.

- 'BTSnomics' -

Some projections suggest that the 82-date, 23-country tour could even surpass US megastar Swift, whose 21-month Eras Tour reportedly generated around $2 billion in ticket sales alone.

Even more than Swift, money comes not just from ticket sales but fans travelling from abroad and spending several days in the cities where BTS play -- a phenomenon dubbed "BTSnomics".

Starting in Goyang, South Korea on April 9 and ending in the Philippines 11 months later, BTS's tour encompasses 82 shows in 34 cities in 23 countries, including around 30 shows in North America.

"I expect these economic ripple effects to be distributed across all the countries and cities where the performances take place," said SooCheong Jang, a tourism professor at Purdue University.

"Given the number of scheduled performances, the massive global fandom including ARMY, and the explosive release of pent-up longing for the group, I judge that this impact will indeed surpass that of 'Taylornomics'," he told AFP.

- Netflix and tourism -

Analyst Kim Yu-hyuk of IBK Investment & Securities in Seoul said a "highly conservative" estimate for ticket sales and merchandise from BTS's 82-date tour is at least 2.9 trillion won ($2 billion).

Six million people could go the shows, Kim estimates.

And BTS may announce more dates next year.

On top of the 260,000 people expected to fill central Seoul on Saturday, Netflix will livestream the concert around the world.

"This is the biggest live musical performance Netflix has ever staged globally," Netflix executive Brandon Riegg said in Seoul on Friday.

The buzz could further increase the current global hunger for almost anything with a Korean flavour, from movies and TV series to books, food and cosmetics.

"KPop Demon Hunters" -- Netflix's most-watched original film -- recently won two Oscars and has already significantly helped boost tourism to South Korea.

- Glowsticks to tuna cans -

Merchandise -- -- ranging from tuna cans and beauty devices to glow sticks, blankets, clothing and dolls -- is also a major generator of cash.

Shinsegae Duty Free said its Myeongdong "K-Wave Zone," which opened in central Seoul in January and sells K-pop-themed goods of multiple artists, is running out of BTS-related products.

Sales of BTS merchandise alone rose about 430 percent in the week of March 13–19 from the previous week, it said in statement.

"Key rings sold out the fastest, while toothbrush-and-toothpaste sets -- popular with travellers -- and disposable bandages also went out of stock," Kim Ji-min, a spokesperson for Shinsegae, told AFP.

"BTS has developed a new economic model for cultural IP (intellectual property), not one particular, but several, such as copyright, trademarks, and design," said Dal Yong Jin, a culture and digital technology professor at Simon Fraser University.

"Their copyright extends to games, comics, music videos," he told AFP.

"In terms of trademarks, the sale of merchandise, including dolls, has been significant."

- K-everything -

South Korea's Yonhap news agency reported the number of foreign visitors to the country between March 1-18 this year rose by more than 30 percent compared with a year earlier.

BTS's agency HYBE cited Hotels.com data showing overseas searches for Seoul jumped 160 percent within 48 hours of the announcement for the upcoming tour, while Busan -- another tour stop -- saw a 2,400-percent surge.

Economically, the group's impact is indeed "measurable in increased tourism to South Korea, the global expansion of K-pop, and spillover effects into industries like K-drama, beauty, cuisine, and fashion," Gi-Wook Shin, a sociology professor at Stanford University, told AFP.

"In many ways, BTS helped catalyze the broader 'K-everything' wave, creating both cultural and economic multiplier effects."

J.Saleh--SF-PST