Seoul is gearing up for a busy new year of international meetings, with six notable large-scale gatherings set to bring 17,200 participants to the city’s top conference venues in the first half of 2020 alone. The three largest of these, which include the 25^th CardioVascular Summit-TCTAP, 15th International Congress of the International Radiation Protection Association, and 24th International Congress of Clinical Chemistry and Laboratory Medicine – accounting for 10,900 of that figure - reflect continued preference for Korea’s capital as a premier MICE event destination, bolstered by a strong local event support program – PLUS SEOUL – provided by the city.

Upgraded for 2019, PLUS SEOUL provides a wide range of support for all MICE events, including corporate meetings, incentive tours, and exhibitions, hosted in Korea’s capital. This year’s revamp focused in particular on emphasizing the personal enjoyment factor of business events in Seoul, turning them into appealing storytelling experiences and opportunities to create lasting bonds with fellow attendees. Additions to the support thus comprised highly-customized add-on features for events, ranging from branded souvenirs and buses to special teambuilding activities, cultural performances, commemorative crafts, and more.

The revised program has seen success throughout 2019, with over 250,000 MICE event participants utilizing its benefits between April and November. A popular customized add-on in 2019 was Application Development Support, in concert with the global trend for favoring event apps over printed material to boost environmental sustainability. Seoul Premium Book, containing various extras from 31 of the city’s top Seoul MICE Alliance members, made a great entering in offering benefits for the participants even after the MICE event for the spare time. About 600 participants used the premiums at the Seven Luck Casino in three month period already.

Further enhancements planned for PLUS SEOUL in 2020 will include greater promotion of the city’s unique venues for one-of-a-kind team building activities, as well as additional customized experienced programs, among others.

"Our goal for next year is to continue to promote our current strengths and further develop and support specialized local programs that meet the needs of global trends" said Don Byun, Executive Director of the Seoul Tourism Organization’s Seoul Convention Bureau division.

Seoul currently ranks in third place worldwide for the number of meetings hosted the previous year, according to the latest UIA International Meetings Statistics Report – a position it has now held four years’ running. In November, Seoul was named ‘Best MICE City’ by readers of US magazine Global Traveler for the fifth year in a row.

More information about PLUS SEOUL is available at www.miceseoul.com.

Pic Courtsey: Intl Bar Association

Upcoming Events in 2020 Utilizing PLUS SEOUL