The year-end gatherings began last weekend in Los Angeles Koreatown. For Korean-American community, the end-of-year gatherings are an annual event to wrap up the year.
Most year-end gatherings are concentrated in December, regardless of whether it is a weekday or a weekend, and are expected to peak on the weekends of December 7 and 8. While school alumni associations are the main focus, Korean American organizations, clubs, and workplace gatherings are also being actively held.
On December 1, the Hankuk University of Foreign Studies Southern California Alumni Association held the “2024 Alumni Night and Scholarship Award Ceremony” at the Oxford Palace Hotel. On December 7, various alumni associations such as Yonsei University’s Alumni Association, Ewha Girls’ High and Middle School, Jinmyeong Girls’ High School, Muhak Girls’ High School, Kyungnam Middle and High School, Seoul National University High School, Dongsung High School, and Songdo Middle and High School, as well as Catholic University of Korea’s College of Nursing are scheduled to hold a series of year-end parties.
Reservations for year-end parties at hotels and large banquet halls in Koreatown began immediately after last year’s event and were mostly completed by the middle of this year. A representative of Yongsusan restaurant said, “December reservations are already closed.”
Year-end parties, which had been on a downward trend since the pandemic, have been on the rise since last year, and reservations have increased significantly this year.
“This year’s year-end party reservations have more than doubled from last year,” said Ji-hee Song, manager of Hong Yeon, ”and we are receiving a variety of reservations, from small gatherings of 20 to 50 people to schools, churches, and companies.” She explained, “The expanded space contributed to the increase in reservations as we moved to the former Yonggung’s place,” and “Currently, 13 private rooms are almost fully booked for year-end reservations.”
One of the trends in year-end parties this year is that there has been an increase in large-scale gatherings. Since the pandemic, gatherings that were held in small groups have expanded to large gatherings of more than 100 people. James Kim, the general manager of the Oxford Palace Hotel, said, “This year’s reservations have increased by 15% compared to last year,” and “As the pandemic ends, events for 300 people are also being held.” Such large-scale events are mainly held by high school and university alumni associations.
Not only large-scale events but also small gatherings are also being revitalized. “Instead of large banquet halls, more customers are holding meetings in small restaurants or restaurants with rooms,” said Hee-seung Jang, banquet manager at the Garden Suite Hotel. ”Currently, hotel reservation rates are at about 70%, which is similar to last year, but new customers are increasing.”
Hye-ran Kim, the CEO of Jook Hyang, also said, “There is also a tendency for less than 10 customers to hold year-end gatherings in an intimate atmosphere,” and explained, “Weekend reservations have already been closed until December 15, and only weekday reservations are available.”
Along with the increase in small gatherings, family-oriented gatherings have also increased significantly. An official at Yongsusan said, “This year, in addition to year-end parties, reservations for family gatherings have increased dramatically, and during Thanksgiving week, family gatherings accounted for the majority of reservations, rather than general events.”
The effects of the economic recession are still lingering despite the year-end gatherings becoming more active. The rise in costs such as meal expenses has made organizations difficult to cover the cost of the event with the previous membership fee. Some organizers often reduce the services provided by hotels or restaurants or change the venue to a relatively inexpensive place to reduce costs.
BY YOONJAE JUNG, HANKIL KANG, JOHN LEE, HOONSIK WOO [woo.hoonsik@koreadaily.com]
