Seoul Attracts 14 International Conferences By 2nd QuarterEconomic effect of events already won in 2010 expected to exceed $58 million Seoul recently won the right to host a number of major international MICE events, cementing its place as the world's 7th largest convention city. The organizing committee of the Worldwide Chinese Life Insurance Congress, based in Taiwan, selected Seoul on May 19 as the host of the International Dragon Award (IDA), a traditionally Sino-centric event, in 2011. Previous IDAs were held in China, Taiwan and Macau. The IDA is the largest and most prestigious international event in the Chinese financial insurance industry. Over 5,000 visitors, including CEOs of American International Assurance Company, Prudential and other major insurance companies in Chinese-speaking areas, are expected to flock to Seoul for the event. The conference is expected to result in direct spending of over 14.3 billion won (USD 11.6 million) as well as a production effect of over 26 billion won (USD 21 million). Seoul was selected over candidates including Singapore, Australia and Thailand. Industry observers noted that one of the reasons for the selection was the successful visit to Seoul last May by Chairman Lian Tielong of the Worldwide Chinese Life Insurance Congress. Lian was reportedly very impressed with Seoul's cultural and MICE infrastructure, as well as the enthusiasm and commitment of the Seoul Tourism Organization and the Korea Tourism Organization. In a separate event held on the same day, Seoul was selected as host for the 2018 International Fiscal Association (IFA) Congress during a meeting of the IFA board of directors in Rotterdam, the Netherlands, beating out South Africa and Russia. Widely called "the Olympics of the fiscal world," the IFA Congress is a prestigious event that brings together over 3,000 financial, tax and budget experts from over 100 countries. Korea's four-year effort to secure the winning bid as host for the event was led by the International Fiscal Association Korea (IFAK), the Ministry of Strategy and Finance, the National Tax Service and the city of Seoul. Strong support from the Ministry of Strategy and Finance and the National Tax Service as well as the full backing of Seoul's event hosting support system played a main role in Seoul's selection. After submitting a letter of intent in 2006 to host the event, the IFAK made concerted efforts to promote the bid among top officials of the IFA via presentations, promotional materials and other efforts.’ To attract the event, Seoul made a video presentation last year, provided financial support, helped create and distribute presentations and conducted inspection tours. When the general secretary of the IFA and other executives visited Seoul last April as part of an inspection of candidate cities, Seoul made a concerted effort to show its top-level convention facilities. Other efforts included a welcoming luncheon hosted by Samuel Koo, president of the Seoul Tourism Organization, where the guests, including the ambassador of the Netherlands learned more about the city's charms and advantages as an international meetings and conferences destination. Seoul's continued growth as a key MICE destination was also indicated in the just-released international meetings rankings of the Union of International Associations UIA for 2009. According to the results, Seoul was ranked second in Asia last year, only trailing Singapore, after placing third in the previous year. ’ In addition, Seoul's number of international meetings climbed from 125 in 2008 to 151 in 2009, representing a rise from 12th to 11th worldwide, the UIA findings said. The 14 international events won by Seoul in the first half of this year, including the 2011 International Council of Nurses Congress (ICNC) and the 2011 International Gastric Cancer Congress (IGCC), are expected to draw over 14,000 business travelers. The economic effect of these events is expected to exceed 72 billion won (USD 58.4 million). In addition, 12 other major international events are to be held in Seoul, including a November 11-12 conference of business leaders on the sidelines of the G-20 summit, the city's largest international conference to date. Industry insiders said Seoul was able to attract the significant number of events due to focused convention industry efforts spearheaded by the Seoul Tourism Organization, as well as effective overseas marketing related to the G-20 summit. Seoul's ranking among major international convention cities rose from 11th in 2006 to 7th in 2008 thanks to these organized efforts and overseas promotional campaigns. Last year, Seoul secured the winning bids to host 20 international conferences, including the 2014 International Congress of Mathematicians. Lee Hae-woo, Seoul's tourism promotion officer, said that the city "recently increased the support package for attracting new large-scale conventions from 60 million won to 100 million won (USD 81,000) as part of our larger efforts to encourage global organizations to hold their events in Seoul." He added that "these efforts culminated in Seoul being selected as the host of 13 major international conferences, including the 2015 International Council of Nurses national representative meeting (expected to draw 4,000 attendees) and the IGCC (expected to have 2,000 attendees)." Mr. Lee further explained that "Seoul is planning to use these recent successes to become one of the world's top-five convention cities," as well as continue its efforts to attract other lucrative events such as corporate meetings, incentive tours and exhibitions. With the eyes of the world on Seoul this year due to the G-20 summit, a "Visit Korea Year" campaign and Seoul's status as World Design Capital 2010, the government and industrial sectors are making strong efforts to promote Seoul as a key MICE destination. Mr. Lee stated that "300,000 business tourists a year can have a production effect of as much as 1.6 trillion won (USD 1.3 billion)," adding that "Seoul will strengthen its partnership networks with the industry and private sector as well as strengthen its global marketing efforts in order to expand the highly lucrative and growth-oriented MICE market." ※ Calculations Expenditures per person US$2,488 × 300,000 visitors × 1,200 won × production effect coefficient 1.8021 [Analysis of the economic effects of international conferences, Korea Tourism Organization, 2008] |