Korea offers the incentive planner a chance to offer high achievers unique experiences in the latest luxury properties.
A less well-trodden destination, the buzz of Seoul with its luxury and boutique hotels, 24 hour lifestyle promises to delight the most seasoned traveller. The capital’s ultramodern skyline jostles with centuries’ old palaces, temples and Hanok (traditional Korean houses). The KTX high speed train transports passengers from Incheon international Airport to Seoul within 28 minutes, and onward down the south east and south west coasts of the country in under 3 hours, making trips to historical UNESCO sites possible for the day.
The Hallyu wave still beckons and K Pop, K Fashion and K Beauty make it a mecca for the young, fashion conscious trendsetters. This makes SoKo the optimum long haul option for those who have been everywhere, as well as those achieving their first reward.
Korea also looks to welcome the 2018 Winter Olympic and Paralympic games to Pyeongchang, which will see the high speed KTX train’s javelin line linking Seoul direct to the games within an hour to the Alps of Korea. With its four distinct seasons winter sports are a regular feature each year, with 24 hour skiing offered within an hour of landing.
Hotels are on the rise, adding to last year's heralded opening of the Four Seasons in Seoul. The latest boutique hotel to open in the in the midst of downtown Seoul’s cultural quarter is a new Small Luxury Hotels of the World hotel, Hotel28 Myeongdong, promising a cosmopolitan city escape with cinema and rooftop restaurant.
Shilla, the luxury 5* brand with properties in Seoul and Jejuhas opened a new brand - Shilla Stay, a modern, urban brand, designed by minimalist Piero Lissoni - now with 9 properties across Korea. Not to be outdone, the 5* Lotte Hotels and Resorts has also expanded with a new lifestyle boutique brand L7 this January, and a Super luxurious, Signature L to open Seoul March 2017. They have also been busy launching their Lotte City business hotels over the 18 months. And come 2018 their new 6* will open in Busan, Korea’s favourite beachside city.
Accor's Gyeongwonjae Ambassador Incheon opened in Songdo late last year, modelled on the hanok style. It delivers stunning spacious rooms, each with their own courtyards, making for a charming property in Central Park, set against the futuristic skyscrapers and Tribowl, in the sustainable city of the future, Songdo, just 20 minutes from Incheon International Airport.
The Nest hotel also opened its doors in 2015, a Design Hotels property, it offers Brutalist architecture, and stylish accommodation with the new Maglev train link direct to the airport only minutes away. On Jeju Island the Jeju Booyoung Hotel & Resort also opened last year. Add this to the heady mix of 5* international chain hotels from Hyatt, IHG, Marriot, and strong 4*s Korea can deliver a VIP incentive, meetcentive or C level retreat in spades.
To learn more about Korea and the Bureau’s support for business events please contact Korea MICE, Anne Ridyard, Appointed MICE representative, Korea MICE: T. +44 1628 5261 / KoreaMice@moulden-marketing.co.uk/ www.koreaconvention.org
Main picture Insadong, Downtown Seoul copyright Seet,Ken /Four Seasons
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