Fans of the world-famous South Korean boyband Super Junior seem to be aplenty in the Gulf. The news broke Jeddah Season's website soon after the festival announced that the band will be performing in the city on July 12.
Just minutes after the Super Junior concert tickets went live online on Wednesday night, fans rushed to buy them. Within three hours, the tickets were sold out. The demand was so high the website crashed about an hour after the tickets went on sale.
Fans rushed to Twitter to ask Jeddah Season about the unfamiliar messages they were receiving upon attempting to purchase a ticket. Some ended up on a waiting list.
"There are 4785 people waiting to purchase their tickets. You may have to wait for two hours to get yours," the message reads.
Other users who attempted to purchase tickets were welcomed with a message that reads "please try again later" upon landing on the payments page.
Jeddah Season soon responded to the countless inquiries with a caption that reads:
"What did you do to our website?" to point out that the crash was due to high demand.
By midnight, according to The National, the tickets had completely sold out. Talk about popularity, right?
The South Korean band is set to perform at the King Abdullah Sports City on July 12. Their concert comes as part of Jeddah Season, a six-week long entertainment festival in the kingdom.
The festival aims to contribute to Saudi Arabia's efforts to revitalize its tourism sector. To facilitate the process for tourists, the kingdom has been giving out visas in just three minutes to individuals who purchase an event ticket.
Just 10 years ago, the non-religious tourism industry was practically non-existent in the kingdom. However, in recent months, officials have been trying to change that, steering major efforts towards the sector, which is expected to contribute $70.9 billion to the kingdom's GDP in 2019.
Jeddah Season boasts a number of activities and events pertaining to different sectors including entertainment, culture, food, and sports.
When it comes to concerts, Nicki Minaj is also set to perform in the kingdom on July 18. The news of her performance did not carry as much excitement as did the Super Junior announcement; on the contrary, it confused some and angered many others.
It seems to be quite the opposite with the K-pop sensation. The site crashing is just one example. The fact that Twitter users (who were actually lucky enough to catch tickets before they ran out) are unable to contain their excitement is another.
Saudi Arabia has been investing in its entertainment sector, hosting a number of concerts and events. In 2017, the kingdom announced a budget allocation for the sector worth $2.67 billion under its Vision 2030 plan.
Earlier this year, a three-day music festival took place with a mixed-gender crowd dancing to songs by David Guetta, Enrique Iglesias, Black Eyed Peas, and Jason Derulo.
I guess we'll have to see what else the kingdom has in store for the remainder of 2019.
