Seoul Enlarges the Hospitality Satisfaction with the Second-tier Destinations

The Seoul Convention Bureau is building a firm partnership with other major Korean cities creating positive synergy in promoting MICE industry in all the regions involved. In 2019, close to 7,000 MICE participants utilized the co-marketing support program provided by Seoul and Gangwon for their incentive group tours. 

The Seoul Convention Bureau settled a MOU with the Gangwon province in 2019 and started to organize co-marketing strategies for the support program. Gangwon is a popular destination for the participants coming from the countries where the average temperature doesn’t go down below zero. With the positive reputation Gangwon has earned with the successful hosting of PyeongChang 2018 Olympic Winter Games, it quickly attracted many incentive groups with the support from Seoul Convention Bureau in global promotion.

Highest popularity shown by MICE planners in Indonesia followed by Malaysia, Vietnam, Thailand, Cambodia and other Southeast Asian countries reflected in the statistics result of the support program users in 2019. The 77 percent of the participants came from Indonesia and took advantage of the co-marketing program. An Indonesian lifestyle products company sent 1,500 of their best employees to enjoy winter activities including riding the sleds on snow and playing curling games indoor in Gangwon after exploring Korean culture in Seoul such as visiting a palace in Seoul wearing hanbok, traditional Korean clothing. The participants expressed the satisfaction of the complete program Seoul and Gangwon provided in collaboration consisting of all aspects they expect from Korea- including vast tourist attractions and shopping options in the metropolitan city and the generous beauty of the pure nature and winter activities in Gangwon.

In 2020, Seoul and Gangwon will welcome more groups together starting with a group of 5000 participants coming from Indonesia in February. As the Seoul Convention Bureau’s major goal is to promote sustainable MICE industry by collaborating in alliance, the officials at the bureau has high expectation to extend this positive partnership further into more cities. Currently, Gangwon and Gwangju signed MOU with Seoul and 4 more cities are to join in 2020. The strengths of each cities will shine its own colors to create unforgettable memories for the participants and this will in return bring the sustainable tourism in all cities involved.

More information about PLUS SEOUL and co-marketing program is available at www.miceseoul.com.