Tourism Organization Selects 16 International Conferences to Support MICE Industry

Selection event for the K-Convention Promotion and Support Project held last year.

[Asia Economy Reporter Choi Dong-hyun] The Korea Tourism Organization announced on the 19th that it has selected a total of 16 international conferences through two public contests held from May to June to support the domestic MICE industry and enhance international competitiveness.

The two public contests are the ‘K-Convention Development and Support Project,’ aimed at fostering international conferences held domestically in areas where Korea has strengths, and the ‘Meeting Technology Application Support Project,’ conducted to promote conference technology using smart technology. Through these two contests, the Korea Tourism Organization selected 13 international conferences under the ‘K-Convention Development and Support Project’ and 3 under the ‘Meeting Technology Application Support Project.’

The 13 selected events will receive support to secure global competitiveness. The K-Convention Development and Support Project is divided into ‘Promising’ and ‘Hopeful’ stages. The Promising stage includes conventions with global growth potential that have been held at least three times. The Hopeful stage includes new conventions held two times or fewer, based on content with high potential for global expansion. The three events selected for the Promising stage will receive up to 80 million KRW annually for overseas promotion and event hosting expenses, supported for up to three years. The ten events selected for the Hopeful stage will receive up to 60 million KRW for one year. Additionally, support such as global strategy consulting and overseas promotion will be provided to help these events grow into international conferences representing Korea.

The three events selected for the Meeting Technology Application Support Project will receive a budget of up to 80 million KRW and professional consulting for the application of advanced conference technologies such as virtual reality and augmented reality. The organization plans to use this contest as an opportunity to discover and spread best practices in applying advanced conference technologies, thereby revitalizing the related market and strengthening international competitiveness.

Kwon Jong-sul, head of the MICE division at the Korea Tourism Organization, stated, “We hope this will be an opportunity for the domestic MICE industry to gain international competitiveness while supporting the industry struggling due to COVID-19 and preparing for the resumption of international tourism.” He added, “We will continue to develop various support projects to aid the recovery and revitalization of the MICE industry.”