Seoul Connections

Korea’s capital is a world city that has created a global reach for meetings and events

 

- Benet Wilson

The message from the Seoul Meetings, Incentives, Conferences and Exhibitions team is clear: the city is open and ready for business. A recent visit to South Korea’s capital revealed a city on the move, with three major conventions going on at the time: the UIA 2017 Seoul World Architects Congress, the Seoul Biennale of Architecture and Urbanism and the International Fair & Sustainable Tourism Forum.

According to the Union of International Associations’ 2016 list of the world’s top convention cities, Seoul was number three – with 526 meetings – topped only by Singapore, with 888 meetings, and Brussels with 906. And the city consistently scores as the “Best International Meetings Destination” in Business Traveler’s Best of Business Travel Awards.

In 2016, incentive travel, conference, corporate meetings and business events in the Asia-Pacific region topped $200 billion in economic value, according to statistics from The Incentive Conference and Event Society Asia-Pacific.

“We see Asia-Pacific as a group of economies that fit primarily under the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) economic zone,” says Nigel Gaunt, president of ICESAP in an interview on his company’s website. “APEC serves to encourage trade within the economies of Asia-Pacific and we have aligned ourselves with this same mission.”

Why Seoul for MICE

 Getting to Seoul is easy, with service from 88 airlines that connect directly with almost every major city in the world. Incheon International Airport, named the world’s best for a record 12th consecutive year by Airports Council International’s Airport Service Quality Awards, is in the final stages of completing a $2.5 billion new terminal project that will double the facility’s size.