For Growth of MICE Industry

Korea MICE Expo 2010 to make its way to be a global MICE event to fan Korean

Korea MICE Expo 2010 opened its two-day session on Nov. 24-25 at Coex in southern Seoul, the only MICE exhibition ever held in Korea hosted by Korea Tourism Organization (KTO) and Seoul Metropolitan Government.
The MICE industry called a chimneyless golden industry has grown rapidly in Korea in the past decade, the record unseen in recent history. According to the Union of Int’l Association, in the past 10 years the number of international meetings that took place in Korea expanded three times to 347 in 2009 ranked the 11th in the world bringing 3.3 trillion won worth in economic activities.
In case of Seoul, the capital has been selected among the 10 largest convention cities in the world and the city will host a great number of international meetings in the days ahead including the International Skin Science Convention and taking advantage of the publicity gained through hosting G20 Summit, Korea Mice Industry Exhibition that started from 2000 will be able to solidify Seoul’s MICE city brand created from the G20 Summit will be easily nurtured as the foremost such brand in the world.
The MICE exhibition has the theme of the MICE Industry’s New Future as the tourism industry plans to foster the MICE industry as a new growth engine for the Korean tourism banking on the MICE’s development in the past decade.
The MICE industry exhibition will take place in Seoul for the next three years annually to be born as a representative Asian MICE Expo based on the experience and know-how in the past as it started as the Korea’s convention industry in 2000.
The Seoul MICE Forum that will also be held during the MICE expo will have a theme of “MICE in the New Decade: The Challenge with sessions on Smart MICE, and MICE Greenomics, and others to take up such subjects as the challenges and changes for the MICE industry to them into opportunities.
Included among the academics and experts that will participate in the forum are Rohit Talwar, one of the 10 renowned futurologists in the world and senior researcher at Convention 2020, Sec. Gen. of ICCA Martin Sirk and John Hutchison, director of the Sydney Tourism Authority, Vice Chairman Didier Scaillet of MPI and MCI Asia-Pacific Chairman Robin Lokerman, among others, all of them MICE experts.
In the meantime, KTO with the support of the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism will promote “Inspiring Meetings in Korea” a global MICE campaign in 2011 and 2012 in partnership with the private tourism industry in a bid to bring real business results from MICE events.
KTO is a government-run tourism promotion organization with its ideal being leading tourism as a core force for the development of national economy and making life for the general public better. Its vision is to be a global public organization with an attractive image and its core value is professionalism as top tourism experts and always ready to develop new standards. It also espouses creativity as a core value by displaying creativity that jumps over existing forms and ideas, along with reliability to do its utmost to be socially responsible and act in a transparent manner.
KTO is always ready to play the role of a control tower for the tourism industry in Korea with creativity, fairness and open communication. It will always maintain an office environment conducive for staff to be creative individually and establish and strengthen an open communication system between senior officers and staff.
In carrying out its outside activities, KTO officers and staff will always have a passion to catch what customers want, always continue to study customers and service customers and maintain open communications with customers. They will always be creative, in harmony with customers, sesarch for attractive points in Korean tourism, expand a management base to move customers and generate visible results through challenges and firm beliefs. nw

Korea MICE Expo 2010 takes place at Coex in Seoul under the sponsorship of Korea Tourism Organization and Seoul Metropolitan Government.