The Seoul Tourism Organization (CEO/President KIL, Ki-Yon) is continuing various activities to support the current state of the MICE industry and recovery plans in preparation for the endemic. A meeting was held by inviting major DMCs of the Seoul MICE Alliance on the 20th of last month, followed by a Seoul MICE support briefing session, which was held online to share details of the support for 150 MICE-related companies on the 27th. Recruiting PCOs to support the development of 2022 S-BIC (Seoul-based International Conference) also started on the 26th to strategically expand the ground for local PCOs onto a global stage. After leading the meeting with DMCs, Ki-Yon Kil, CEO and president of the Seoul Tourism Organization, said, “It was a very meaningful time listening to the professionals’ suggestions for the recovery and preparing for a leap in the tourism and MICE industries together.”
Opening a road to restore tourism ecosystem
Representatives of the major MICE travel industry, who attended to discuss ways to revitalise the MICE industry in preparation for the recovery of tourism and MICE demand, said that group reservations and inquiries are actively coming in for the third quarter of this year. It creates positive expectations that the normalisation of the tourism and MICE industries will begin in earnest from 2023. However, due to the lack of tourist infrastructure (air routes, chartered buses, group tourist restaurants, customised performances for foreigners, etc.) due to the prolonged pandemic, it is difficult to provide practical services when tourist groups visit the city. As the cost of group tourism has risen sharply, support for the restoration of tourism infrastructure is urgently needed to increase the competitiveness of attracting MICE groups.
Sharing details to boost business events in Seoul
In addition, inquiries have been pouring in since the newly reorganised ‘2022 Seoul MICE Industry Support Plan Announcement’ in March, so an online briefing session consisting of 3 parts—international conference support session, corporate conference/incentive and exhibition support session, and IT, quarantine, and professional manpower support—was held on the 27th of April. A real-time Q&A corner to resolve related questions and various giveaway events were prepared, allowing information on various support to be delivered with keen interest.
Beginning of a long-lasting impact
A contest to provide more practical support was also opened. The 2022 S-BIC (Seoul-based International Conference) Fostering Project” is to lead the strengthening of the international conference industry ecosystem by successfully globalising domestic conferences based on the long-term partnership between the Seoul-based international conference planning PCOs and the host organization. Seoul Convention Bureau director Jin Hyeok Park said, “In order to establish a balanced international conference industry structure, Seoul’s representative international conferences will be jointly discovered and fostered with the industry to enhance the competitiveness of the Seoul MICE industry globally. We will actively discover new international conferences with global growth potential through this project and continue to support them step-by-step with the goal of gradual globalisation over the next five years.
