Seoul’s MICE Uniqueness is in its Diversity

Press Room > 2019

Cities from around the world are competing to be the preferred destination for MICE and what sets Seoul, the capital of Korea apart from the rest, is its diversity, which can be most alluring. In terms of history, this city stretches back over two thousand years, with some of its relics which can be seen in Seoul, a testament of its historical longevity.

The famous Deoksugang Palace, to name but one is located within the city.  You can witness the changing of the guard ceremony on the palace grounds with guards resplendent in the Korean costumes of a bygone era.

Korean food is unmistakably minimalist, and so healthy, with shared side dishes to complement each other, together with the ubiquitous fermented cabbage known as kimchi, ever present with rice as the main dish. Restaurants at Itaewon now offer halal Korean cuisine to cater to the growing Muslim travellers that visit Seoul.

Then there is Korea’s entertainment phenomena, K-Pop which has taken the world by storm, with museums solely dedicated to it, with dinner shows and concerts happening in and around Seoul.

Religious multiplicity exists in Seoul from Buddhism, and Christianity to Islam – all play a role in the cultural diversity of the city.

Amidst the old, is the modernity of tall high rise buildings, which you can easily mistaken for being in New York.  Then there is the Seoul which is the centre of the country’s tech sector and home to several “chaebol” or conglomerates.

To sample this diversity, Seoul Tourism Organization invited sixteen corporate meetings and incentives buyers, from 10 countries in the Asia Pacific and the Middle East, together with media representatives from seven major magazines to get up close to what Seoul can offer as destination for MICE.  It was hosted by STO’s chief executive officer, Jae-sung Rhee.

For buyers, the tour was focused on real experience, including team building activities, inspection of unique venues in Seoul, to watching K-POP performances and kayaking along the Hangang River.

While for the media, the tour was organised under the theme of: ‘Sustainability’, ‘Korean wave’ and ‘Diversity’ which are the current keywords trending in the MICE industry in Korea.

Media representatives were also taken around various places in relation to urban regeneration and sustainability of Seoul such as the Resource Recovery Facility and Haneul Park – a former landfill area that has been rejuvenated.

In addition to cultural and religious diversity in Seoul, all were introduced to the backbone of what the MICE industry in the city is built upon.

Along with showcasing to the media several international conferences and exhibitions held at the venues visited, emphasising on Seoul’s MICE capability to host events.

A total of 18 unique venues were visited by the participants, and they completed six team building programmes during the familiarisation tour.