How one 'underdog' is aiming to become the world's convention destination
COEX in southern Seoul hosts an average of 200 exhibitions a year. If all the world is indeed a stage, Seoul is going all out this year to showcase its production values, touting the Korean capital's expertise in hosting meetings and conventions to a worldwide audience.
“People have a tendency to lump tourism and convention together, but they are very different types of industry,” says Maureen O’Crowley, vice president of the Seoul Convention Bureau.
The difference between traditional tourism and the convention business? Bigger and more far-reaching consequences, according to the Meetings, Incentives, Conventions, Exhibitions (MICE) expert.
Despite its economic impact, many still view MICE as “soft, less serious” industry.
“People don’t realize that we go after larger numbers,” says O’Crowley, who is originally from the state of Nebraska in the United States.
“Those who travel for conventions spend a great deal more, and bring long-term benefits to the city they visit -- far more so than the average tourist who spends, say, three nights here, and is most likely not to return.”
The underdog lures business with discounts
Traditionally outshone by more familiar Asian business travel destinations, such as Hong Kong or Singapore, Seoul has long been the regional underdog in the MICE industry.
So, it came as a surprise when, according to the Union of International Associations, the city ranked fifth in the world for number of international meetings hosted in 2010. Singapore was first, followed by Brussels, Paris and Vienna.
“We are the great unknown,” says O’Crowley. “But once (convention visitors) come here they are literally blown away by the business infrastructure in place.”
Seoul is now concentrating heavily on making itself MICE-friendly.
The year 2012 has been officially designated Seoul Convention Year.
Those traveling to Seoul en masse for conventions and business are receiving substantial discounts and perks, including cut-price tickets on Korean Air and Asiana Airlines, up to 40 percent off hotel rates, 30 percent off convention center rates and services that range from shuttle buses and ticket discounts to local venues and attractions.
"By designating the last year of the Visit Korea campaign as Seoul Convention Year, we want to keep the great momentum going," says O'Crowley.
Big bucks
Seoul is expected to generate an estimated ₩87 billion (US$72 million) from events that have been added to Seoul’s 2012 MICE calendar.
"We actually arrived at our goal years early," says O'Crowley. "We had initially aimed to become fifth in the world by 2015. (Hitting our goal early) was made possible by tremendous effort from the government and organizations such as ours."
In the next few years, Seoul will host some extremely specialized and rather curious-sounding conventions: the biggest players are the Federation of Asian & Oceania Pest Managers Associations and the International Society of Blood Transfusion.
Other big names include the International Association for Dental Research and the International World Wide Web Conference.
"Yes, it's amazing that people can sit around for three days and talk about these subjects," laughs O'Crowley.
The "wow" factor: Palaces
“What we would really like to use –- and this is going to be happening in the near future -- are Seoul's palaces,” says O’Crowley. “They're the ace up our sleeve."
While Seoul's palaces have been used for private events in the past, the challenge is to equip them with the audio-visual components crucial to presentations.
“In Italy, for example, conventions are held in historic buildings, which services two purposes: it entertains and amazes,” says O’Crowley.
“It really drives the point home that this city is centuries old, and kind of does the history lesson for you without being boring.”
Challenges
And what about the problems facing Seoul as a convention city?
“In light of how we’re growing, the limited infrastructure is the biggest problem,” says O’Crowley.
“With only 25,000 rooms, we’re up against some big numbers in other countries. With all these new venues we’re closing the gap a little, but our hotels are running absolutely full these days.”
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