GANGNEUNG, South Korea – Planning a last-minute trip to the Olympics?
Bring plenty of money.
Most of the major hotels convenient to venues are booked and the few places that have rooms are charging a hefty premium. Most hotels and guest houses at least doubled normal prices.
The government here has tried to discourage businesses from jacking up prices for the Olympics but it has no legal means of preventing private businesses raising prices.
“We did try to manage prices, but we cannot force them to do it,” Song Young Rok, a Gangwon Province official said.