ASIA - The Seoul Metropolitan Government has published a Master Plan for developing the South Korean capital’s meetings industry, as a result of consultations with 50 of the city’s top industry professionals. Boosting capacity and competitiveness are central to the Master Plan.
“The city has selected the MICE industry as one of Seoul’s future core industries, especially because its economic benefits impact every other aspect of the business sector and economy as a whole,” said Seoul mayor Park Won-soon.
The number of international congresses in Asia increased by 133 per cent in the period 2006-2010 according to the Union of International Associations (UIA) and, although Seoul’s meetings facilities and related professional services have helped the city maintain a top five ranking for three years in a row, other regional players have been positioning themselves to take a larger share of the meetings coming to Asia.
The Seoul Master Plan envisages developing large new areas of meetings infrastructure over the period 2014-2028, including the Dongdaemum Design Plaza set to open in 2014, and a large convention centre next to Seoul Station to open in 2018.
The city government also promises to work with the Seoul Tourism Organisation, academic institutions and key MICE employers to create programmes for preparing the next generation of industry professionals. The Master Plan also promises to expand the scope of the Seoul Convention Bureau.
Global exhibition association UFI is expecting more than 400 high-level delegates representing trade fair and exhibition organisers, exhibition centres, and associations to its 80th Annual Congress in Seoul.
The congress will take place on 13-16 November at the Coex Convention Centre in Seoul, South Korea where Comexposium and Viparis CEO Renaud Hamaide will succeed outgoing president Chen Xianjin and begin his tenure as president of UFI.
Hamaide has been CEO of France’s Comexposium group, organiser of five of the top 10 exhibitions in France, since 2010. He is also executive CEO at Viparis, which manages most of the major exhibition venues in Paris.
The event is made up of conferences and presentations about trends and strategic issues facing the exhibition industry, as well as meetings of UFI’s decision-making bodies and internal committees.
Read more about Hamaide's presidential appointment on page 30 in the next issue of Exhibition World.
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