SMA pushes for “Sustainable Transformation ON, Seoul”
Seoul is preparing for 2022 by putting top priority on “sustainable growth” as a way to achieve a breakthrough in the ailing MICE industry in the “living with coronavirus” era. Celebrating the 10th anniversary of the Seoul MICE Alliance (SMA) this year, the Seoul Tourism Organization (STO) plans to push for breakthrough innovations in 2022 through more joint marketing with local governments and closer networking among SMA members.
An official from the STO said, “Everyone is having a hard time, but we need to muster the courage to reorganize the MICE ecosystem and take on new challenges for a leap forward” as the STO announced the plan under the theme of “Sustainable Transformation ON, Seoul” at the 2021 SEOUL MICE ON, a hybrid event held at the Fairmont Ambassador Seoul grand ballroom on November 18th.
The 2021 SEOUL MICE ON held under the theme of “Sustainable Transformation ON, Seoul” featured sub-sessions under the sub-themes of “MICE and climate change response”, “engagement with local communities”, and “digital transformation”, respectively. Through these cross-sector discussions, the STO derived ways to create new value and experiences and new business opportunities. The event, which lasted for 10 hours from 10 am to 8 pm, was live-streamed through the official YouTube channel of the Seoul Tourism Organization.
100 attendees at the anniversary event
The evening session was an annual meeting of the Seoul MICE Alliance (SMA), which celebrated its 10th anniversary this year. The session was attended by 300 people including representatives from SMA members, industry officials and students. 100 people attended the meeting on-site with others participating online due to COVID-19 guidelines. After presentations on SMA activities and next year’s plan, four new division leaders were introduced and commendations and awards were presented.
SMA members jointly attracted a total of 17 international conferences this year, including the “2025 World Congress of Neurology (5,000 attendees)”. 51 SMA member companies jointly participated in a total of 8 overseas virtual exhibitions and conferences and held 430 rounds of buyer-seller meetings. A total of 35 companies participated in the SMA joint campaign “#Sustainable_Transformation_On” waged via social media platforms, recording a total of 290,000 engagements and conducting event attraction and marketing activities online.
Shin, Hyun-dae who will head up the Exhibition division in 2022 as newly appointed leader said, “We will overcome the pandemic by pulling our strength together. In 2022, the STO and the SMA will once again join forces towards the goal of sustainable development.”
The SMA is a public-private partnership established in June 2011 jointly by the Seoul Metropolitan Government and the Seoul Tourism Organization to foster the MICE industry in Seoul. It is the largest MICE alliance in Korea with 318 members from 10 different fields of the MICE industry, including convention centres, hotels, professional conference organizers (PCOs), and travel agencies. The SMA carries out various joint cooperation projects to attract MICE to Seoul.
Further information is available at https://www.miceseoul.com/index.
