Proactive Innovation Needed for
Convention Industry Success in Next Decade
By Cheol-weon Kim
Convention Management Professor at Kyunghee University and President of Korea Convention Association
This article was written by Professor Kim in response to the initial findings of the "Convention 2020" project released in early March. The study, which has been a focus of great attention in the convention management industry and well received in Korean MICE circles, is aimed at preparing for challenges ahead by developing insights into the evolution of the industry over the next decade, considering such factors as technological changes, social attitudes and economic power shifts. For example, the project predicts explosive growth in demand for customized networking services including video conferencing via smartphones. The findings of the project's first stage are to be released in May at the IMEX exhibition in Frankfurt, Germany. -Ed.
The convention industry is a high-value-added, knowledge-based industry that is providing a new growth engine for the international economy. With the steady advancement of the global economy, a lot of investments have been made to expand convention facilities, nurture human resources and enhance marketing capacity. To produce tangible results, emphasis is being placed on developing the convention industry. According to statistics of the Union of International Associations, Korea ranks 12th in the convention sector, and Seoul is now the 7th largest convention city in the world.
The convention industry, which values output over input, has complex characteristics that attract a diversity of stakeholders. This sector creates profits while stressing the importance of providing quality services, planning creative events, expanding networking opportunities for participants, utilizing advanced IT technology and attracting public interest. However, if the value of inputs and costs, including participation registration fees, are not recognized, the positive effects of holding a convention tend to be reduced.
Recently, the initial findings of a research project called "Convention 2020" directed by Rohit Talwar, one of the world's top-10 futurists, were issued by Seoul Tourism Marketing, the London Tourism Organization and various convention-related international organizations. The study emphasizes the importance of implementing innovation and change in the convention industry to proactively counter uncertain environments. It also recommends enhancing specialized competence to create new business models and ceaseless efforts to counter changes.
In particular, it predicts that specialized conventions would be facilitated to deal with specific themes, while efficiency would be pursued through small meetings; contents would be accessed through smart phones amid selective pay registration trends for raising participating value through conventions; live teleconferences would be preferred; and the scope of networking would be expanded, while personally customized services would be exponentially increased.
In addition, as conventions increasingly address ethical and environmental issues that are currently drawing a lot of attention, many "green conventions" are expected to emerge, while convention facilities are likely to be diversified to universities, museums, galleries, libraries and office buildings, thus posing a great challenge to convention centers. Expressing his concurrence with the findings of the project, Martin Sirk, President of ICCA, said, "A great deal of innovation is required to induce customers in terms of format of meetings, business models, competence of meeting organizations and use of technologies."
The convention industry is one of the 17 sectors considered to be growth engines. Professor Gary Hamel, a business strategy expert, once said, "The era of evolution has gone and the era of revolution has come." It means that the 20th century was led by a gradual competition strategy, while the 21st century needs a revolutionary strategy aimed at changing the framework of competition.
The competitiveness of the Korean convention industry seems to depend on "management innovation" related to manpower management. Without innovation on the part of everyone in bureaucracy, industries and academia, even the best ideas will be ineffective. In the convention industry of 2020, core players will need to play an important role. Based on the project, it is necessary to make practical efforts to enhance the status of the industry while proactively responding to dynamic changes, so that the convention industry can grow into a core sector for the development of the national economy.
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