ASIA – Korea’s meetings industry will take centre stage, 26-27 June, when international buyers and key business events and meetings industry professionals and media attend Korea MICE Expo (KME) 2013 at Seoul’s Coex Convention and Exhibition Centre.
The annual event is Korea’s largest meetings industry trade show and will include a buyer pre-tour of Seoul, a welcome dinner and a media tour of the city.
At the KME exhibition floor, 350 buyers and other participants will have the opportunity to meet directly with members of the Seoul Tourism Organisation (STO) and also 33 members of the Seoul MICE Alliance, an industry partnership of the city’s major business events companies.
The Welcome Dinner, on 26 June, hosted by the Seoul Metropolitan Government and Seoul Tourism Organisation will provide guests a chance to network, sample Korean cuisine, and enjoy entertainment including a showcase of the Korean martial art of taekwondo.
The STO has ended its joint partnership with the Korea Tourism Organization (KTO) in the management of the 14th KME. KTO President and CEO, Charm Lee, told news agency TTG Asia e-Daily budget cuts had resulted in STO’s withdrawal from the event sponsorship.
Sang Bum Kim, Seoul Vice-Mayor for Administrative Affairs, said: “Seoul is very happy to serve as the host city for the Korea MICE Expo. The Seoul Metropolitan Government is working hard to foster the city’s MICE and travel industries, as they are powerful economic drivers for Seoul.”
On 27 June, the IMEX-MPI-MCI Future Leaders Forum will take place at the KME. Korean students of business events and tourism from across the country will have the opportunity to meet with and be inspired by today’s industry professionals from both home and abroad through a series of lectures and discussions.
The programme will be hosted by Miguel Neves, Knowledge and Social Media Manager for the IMEX Group, and guest speakers include Seoul Convention Bureau Vice-President Maureen O’Crowley and Tyra Hilliard, an associate professor at University of Alabama and winner of the STO’s ‘What Is Gangnam Style?’ social media promotion held last November.
KME 2013 comes just weeks after the release of the latest Union of International Associations report, which found that Seoul has, for the third year in a row, retained its ranking of fifth place worldwide for the number of international events it hosted.
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