Mid-term development plan underscores desire to solidify the city’s position as a world-class business events destination and expand the scope of MICE.
Seoul has established its meetings, incentives, conventions and exhibitions (MICE) mid-term development plan for 2023-2027 to keep pace with pandemic-induced rapid changes and strengthen its position on the business events world stage, including international e-sports events. Under the goal, “sustainable and smart MICE city”, 17 key tasks under four categories will be implemented.
The four categories are:
- Building the foundation for the future growth of smart MICE
- Developing an integrated MICE platform
- Creating a sustainable and inclusive growth ecosystem
- Expanding global public-private governance
According to the development plan, Seoul will build exhibition and convention centres around Jamsil Olympic Stadium, in the northern part of Seoul Station and in the Magok District through private development programmes until 2030.
This will expand Seoul’s MICE infrastructure to become 3.5 times larger than its current scale (from 65,000 sq m to 230,000 sq m). Seoul will also build three regional MICE cooperative complexes (clusters) in the southwest district (Magok), the urban district (Seoul Station, Namsan Mountain, Gwanghwamun Gate), and the southeast district (from Jamsil to COEX), where facilities and attractions will be concentrated to include shopping, culture, transportation and tourism. The strategy is to revitalise the local economy by helping Seoul’s MICE attendees to have various experiences and spend their money.
The scope of MICE, often confined to international conferences and exhibitions, will be expanded to attract and host international events such as e-sports competitions in Seoul. Seoul Festa, held in August 2022 in association with the world’s largest electric motor racing, Formula E, will become an annual event held every May starting this year.
The focus will also be on attracting MICE in collaboration with Seoul’s 10 representative industrial hubs, including Yeouido (finance), Yangjae (AI), and Dongdaemun (beauty).
Seoul will also create a sustainable ecosystem for the MICE industry and train future talent. New office spaces will be built for MICE businesses at Jamsil Global Exchange Complex District, and a corporate incentive programme will be introduced. “Seoul MICE Campus” will provide MICE education and classes catering to people with different career backgrounds, from entry-level employees to managers.
As connections are key in the MICE industry, the Seoul MICE Alliance (SMA), comprised of more than 300 MICE companies, will revitalise the domestic network while Seoul enters strategic partnerships with expert agencies in major cities such as New York, Las Vegas, Singapore, and more to expand the global network.
With “Seoul’s MICE mid-term development plan” focusing on these tasks, the city aims to stimulate the economy and boost the city’s competitiveness to attract 30 million international visitors. Gyeong-ju Choi, Head of Tourism & Sports Department at Seoul City said, “The MICE industry, ‘the flower of face-to-face industries’, confronted COVID-induced difficulties but the industry has evolved with a hybrid system helping Seoul to take the second place as a global host city in 2021. By faithfully implementing the plan, we will support MICE growth into a key industry that drives regional innovation and industrial development while also keeping Seoul’s position on the global stage as a top-tier MICE city.”
The Plan specifies “the cutting-edge smart MICE” plan, which is one of four pillars of the Tourism Revitalization Plan in Seoul 2022-2026 unveiled in September 2022 with the goal of attracting 30 million foreign tourists. The plan reflects feedback from Seoul’s MICE Industry Development Committee and other MICE professionals and incumbents.
Featured image by Minku Kang on Unsplash.