Global Conference Hosting Restarted... Busan City Launches International Conference City Project Beyond COVID-19

‘2023 BioSensor World Congress’, ‘2024 COSPAR Scientific Assembly’ and 2 More International Conferences Confirmed

Busan City, Busan Tourism Organization, and BEXCO United for Over 40 Major International Conferences This Year

BEXCO exterior view.

[Asia Economy Yeongnam Reporting Headquarters Reporter Kim Yong-woo] Busan City (Mayor Park Hyung-jun) has restarted its global international conference attraction project, which had stalled due to COVID-19.

As of May this year, Busan City has succeeded in attracting four international conferences: the ‘2023 World Congress on Biosensors,’ the ‘2024 COSPAR (Committee on Space Research) Scientific Assembly,’ the ‘2021 Korean Society of Industrial Chemistry Conference,’ and the ‘2022 Korean Civil Engineering Convention.’

Although it falls short of its goal to become an international conference city, the achievement is notable given the ongoing COVID-19 situation.

In the case of the ‘World Congress on Biosensors,’ Busan had successfully secured the event in 2020, but it was canceled due to COVID-19.

Busan Tourism Organization, BEXCO, and Busan City united their efforts to successfully attract the 2023 World Congress.

The total number of participants for these four international conferences is expected to reach about 9,000, with approximately 4,000 of them being foreigners.

Additionally, Busan City, together with Busan Tourism Organization and BEXCO, is actively pursuing the attraction of around 40 major international conferences this year.

Busan City’s expert Lee Young-ki, with 13 years of experience, is supporting the attraction activities across various departments on the front lines.

Busan Tourism Organization’s Marketing Director Yong Seon-jung, who previously served as the head of the Convention Attraction Team at the Korea Tourism Organization, is overseeing the Convention Bureau team and monitoring the situation directly.

BEXCO appointed veteran international conference attraction expert Lee Soo-in as director in January this year.

Jo Yoo-jang, Director of Busan City’s Tourism MICE Industry Bureau, said, “Busan City is promoting the development of the MICE industry, a future new growth engine, by expanding infrastructure suited to post-COVID trends and establishing a system that supports everything from attracting international conferences to successfully hosting them.”

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.