GroundK operated the foreigner shuttle service for around 6,000 international fans at SBS Gayo Daejeon 2024, held at Inspire Entertainment Resort on Yeongjong Island, Incheon. We designed routes linking Seoul departure points to a venue 60km from the city, then ran the late-night operation with an English booking and ticketing system, six on-site teams, and a color-coded route guidance scheme.
6,000 foreign fans and the Yeongjong Island challenge
SBS Gayo Daejeon is one of the year's most-watched K-pop concerts, bringing together leading artists for audiences at home and abroad. From 2023 the show moved to Inspire Entertainment Resort, a complex on Yeongjong Island, Incheon, raising its profile as a global event.
That move created a problem for organizer SBS and its partner Interpark Triple (now NOL Universe). Most of the audience were international visitors, and the venue sits 60km from central Seoul, out of easy reach by public transport alone. The show also ended after 10 p.m., when foreign guests unfamiliar with Korea's transit network would struggle to travel on regular public transport.
The Incheon airport railway, resort shuttle buses, and taxis already existed, but none could absorb thousands of people moving at the same time. Capacity was the issue, departures were slow, and the safety risk of a large crowd in motion was significant. Without a professional, structured transport solution, the situation could not be resolved.
Designing a tailored journey for 6,000 guests
With years of experience running mega-event transport, GroundK first formed a dedicated task force and surveyed the Inspire Resort site in person, analyzing transport infrastructure, parking, and likely passenger flows.
Because Seoul departure points also had to be set, we selected stop locations based on the travel patterns of international visitors and designed the entire process, from booking to boarding, to be foreigner-friendly. This field research shaped an operating plan built on three themes: technology, manpower, and operational know-how.
An English booking system and data-driven operations
The GroundK task force built an intuitive booking system for international guests, with reservations, ticket validation, and settlement managed through T-RiseUp TMS. An English-language web page provided guidance, and each stop was shown with an English name and photo so visitors unfamiliar with Korea could find it easily.
Anticipating that guests would depart from different points at different times, we introduced a ticket reservation system that let each passenger choose their stop and time. The full process ran in English, and a QR-code e-ticket (voucher) allowed boarding with no extra steps. Data collected through the system let us forecast vehicle needs by area and spread boarding numbers across stops, making the operation more stable.
Rigorous on-site management by trained staff
To run the shuttle well, GroundK invested heavily in organization and staffing. On site, a task force of six teams operated together: stop management, Inspire Resort parking management, customer service, and system stability. Every team member was trained to understand the whole process, not just their own role, so the operation could adapt to urgent situations.
More than 30% of all staff were assigned as multilingual personnel, minimizing friction from language barriers. This structure let the teams handle ticket checks, guest guidance, parking, route direction, and system issues all at once.
Color-coded routes for a safe late-night shuttle
Getting 6,000 guests home safely after the concert, late at night, was a real challenge. After sunset, orientation gets harder, and when thousands gather in one place, unexpected communication outages are common. With safety and crowd-flow risks combined, the task force applied a new guidance scheme that paired a mobile-based approach with analog methods to cover these variables.
Each departure stop was given its own theme color, and passengers received a wristband in that color when boarding. The same colors were used to move foreign guests safely to their boarding points at night. High-visibility signal batons and badges made guidance clear even in the dark, and thousands of guests found their stops and boarded with no accidents and no missed boardings, reaching their destinations safely.
Sharing the journey with global K-pop fans
A concert shuttle is more than transport. It is the first excited step toward seeing a favorite artist and the companion on the journey home afterward. At SBS Gayo Daejeon, GroundK shared that moment with around 6,000 international guests.
The geography of Yeongjong Island, the scale of foreign passenger movement, and the need for late-night safety were all difficult, layered problems, but GroundK worked through them one by one with practical ideas and flexible response. This experience with global event shuttles also carries into our RIDEUS managed shuttle operations. We will keep combining technology, expertise, and genuine service to deliver the best possible journey.
