Exhibition Convention MICE Industry "Sales Down 70%... Demanding Compensation for COVID Losses"

On the 26th, industry officials from the exhibition, convention, and MICE sectors held a press conference at the COEX Exhibition Center in Gangnam-gu, Seoul, urging compensation for damages caused by government COVID-19 restrictions such as gathering bans and calling for improvements to quarantine guidelines. Photo by Kang Jin-hyung aymsdream@

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Bo-kyung] The exhibition, convention, and MICE industry has urged the government to implement comprehensive measures, including compensation for losses caused by COVID-19 quarantine measures and improvements to quarantine guidelines.

On the 26th, eight organizations from the exhibition, convention, and MICE sectors issued a joint statement at COEX in Seoul, appealing that "the accumulated damage over one year due to COVID-19 has caused much greater suffering than during the IMF financial crisis."

They stated, "Whenever COVID-19 surged, the quarantine authorities ordered bans on gatherings and social distancing, and our industry had to endure sacrifices for the health and safety of the public. Many young people and freelancers lost their jobs, and the number of businesses closing down due to inability to withstand the suspension of operations is increasing daily."

They also expressed dissatisfaction, saying, "While disaster relief funds were provided multiple times to small business owners and emergency management stabilization funds were offered to small and medium enterprises, our industry did not benefit at all," highlighting that they are in a blind spot regarding government support.

On the 26th, industry officials from the exhibition, convention, and MICE sectors held a press conference at the COEX Exhibition Center in Gangnam-gu, Seoul, urging compensation for damages caused by government COVID-19 restrictions such as gathering bans and calling for improvements to quarantine guidelines. Photo by Kang Jin-hyung aymsdream@

The exhibition, convention, and MICE industry claimed that their sales have decreased by an average of 70% due to COVID-19.

The exhibition service sector saw a 68.1% decrease in sales last year compared to the previous year, and a major exhibition organizer’s sales dropped 97%, from 19 billion KRW in 2019 to 1.3 billion KRW in 2020.

The nationwide exhibition and convention centers’ operating rate fell to 20%, with the number of events held and sales dropping to 30%, causing severe management difficulties. Exhibition venues such as COEX, BEXCO, and EXCO have implemented rotating employee furloughs.

The estimated annual sales loss for the entire industry is ▲ 2 trillion KRW for the exhibition industry and ▲ 1.1 trillion KRW for international conferences. Including related industries such as MICE tourism, the scale of damage is expected to be even greater.

These eight organizations called for six government measures in their statement.

The demands include ▲ compensation for losses caused by government and local government gathering bans ▲ improvement of quarantine guidelines for exhibition and conference facilities to be the same as those for department stores ▲ normal hosting of government and public institution events ▲ emergency financial support ▲ extension of the designation period for special employment support industries ▲ and support for exhibition venue rental fees.

They stated, "Our industry should no longer be forced to make unilateral sacrifices. The government must follow up with compensation measures for the sacrifices we have endured so far," and added, "We urge comprehensive measures including improvements to quarantine guidelines and financial support."