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Sports and Tourism ( in the person of minister Park Bo-gyun ), together with the KTO ( president Kim Jang Sil ), held a ‘ Proclamation Ceremony for Establishment of a MICE Industry Ecosystem and Sustainable Management ’ back in September 2022 . And a ‘ MICE Industry Revitalisation Forum ’ on 19 December at the Commodore Hotel in Busan discussed the campaign to bring the 2030 World Expo to Busan .
Certification is big part of the MICE push . The KTO ( President Young-bae Ahn ) attained the ISO 20121 certification , which helps planners evaluate whether MICE suppliers have economic , environmental and socially sustainable management systems and operating processes .
KTO has been actively promoting company-wide ESG management starting from 2021 and passed a two-step expert review of the Korean Standards Association .
Venue developments in Busan Busan , Korea ’ s second largest city and a mega port , announced back in early 2022 that it would be moving forward with the construction of the 3rd BECO Exhibition Centre and the SeoBusan Exhibition and Convention Centre . Construction is set to start in 2024 and finish in 2026 .
It is hoped that the construction of the centre will attract more international conferences and bigger trade shows by overcoming the limitations of the old BEXCO exhibition centre . A whole new accommodation , tourism , leisure , shopping , infrastructure and international conference complex offer will be built in the area .
The design is set to be approved in the second half of this year and the new venue will be built on the existing parking structure of BEXCO .
In addition , the SeoBusan Exhibition and Convention Center , which is scheduled to be built in the Busan Special R & D Zone , is at the planning stage . That project has a goal of completion in 2031 . As well as numerous large events
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connected with trade and indstustry , Busan can offer incentive activities including :
• Experiencing and creating traditional Korean paper crafts and artworks .
• A Taekwondo experience at a local centre where 3,000 visitors come every year from all over the world to experience Korean traditional martial arts .
• Yoga classes with a view of the ocean off the coast of Busan
Korea relaxes qualifying requirements for conventions support Starting this year , the requirements for international conventions seeking support for events held in Korea have been significantly relaxed . This follows the passing of the amendment to Korea ’ s International Conference Industry Promotion Act in September last year which included small events into the original target of medium- to large- scale events . The idea is to help attract small and medium-sized events which have been rapidly increasing since the pandemic .
KTO will now partially subsidise the cost of events with a total of 100 or more participants which include 50 or more foreigners from three countries . The target of support is international conferences held for more than two days
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Above : Entrance of Korea Life Science Week 2022 . Photo courtesy of the secretariat |
by organisations and companies and academic associations which have a unique registration number in Korea . Overseas organisations or associations that are not registered in Korea can also qualify for support by working through a convention bureau or hotel .
The available subsidies range from 10 million to 60 million won , according to how many delegates are involved . Up to 60 % of additional support is provided based on evaluations of events held outside a metropolitan area , use of Korea Unique Venue and the Standard Contract for International Conference Services , compliance with Sustainable Event Management ( ISO20121 ) guidelines and more .
Online meetings , temporarily supported due to the Covid-19 crisis , are now excluded from support .
Considering that international air routes have not yet fully recovered , there is continuing support for hybrid events – up to 20,000 won per foreign online participant and to a maximum total of 10 million won . Full details and conditions are available via the KTO website .
Korea is also expanding its Digital Transformation Project for regional convention bureaus and about 40 MICE companies will be selected through a competition to be provided with support , including creation of a digital work environment , producing digital PR and
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