Ministry of Culture and Tourism Organization Launch Two Public Projects to Support 'K-MICE'

[Asia Economy Reporter Choi Dong-hyun] The Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism and the Korea Tourism Organization announced on the 25th that they will launch two public contest projects to support the domestic MICE industry, which is struggling due to the COVID-19 situation.

First, from May 24 to June 14, a public contest will be held for the ‘K-Convention Development and Support Project’ aimed at globalizing internationally based conferences held in Korea. This project aims to discover and nurture conferences that have both Korean characteristics and international dissemination potential. The contest targets international conferences held domestically from July to December this year and classifies them into four stages of development: Hope (newly held), Promising, Excellent, and Representative.

Through document and presentation evaluations, about 15 conferences will be selected. Selected conferences will receive up to 150 million KRW annually for up to three years, along with support for global strategy consulting and overseas promotion. In particular, to strengthen industry support, the number of events at the Hope stage will be expanded from previous years to support up to 10 events. To encourage active participation in new planning by regional industries, the project will be jointly promoted with the Korea PCO Association.

Additionally, the ‘Meeting Technology Application Support Project,’ which promotes the use of smart technology in conference technology, is also open for applications from May 20 to June 14. Eligible applicants include international conference hosting organizations that link online and offline formats, as well as metropolitan local governments that host or support such conferences. The target conferences are those held domestically from the third quarter of this year to the first quarter of next year, where the application of conference technology is expected to be effective.

Through submission of conference technology application plans and interview evaluations, three conferences will be selected. The main evaluation criteria include the innovativeness, appropriateness, and feasibility of the applied technology. Selected conferences will each receive 80 million KRW in technology application support funds and professional consulting.

Kwon Jong-sul, head of the MICE division at the Korea Tourism Organization, stated, “Through the continuous promotion of international conference and conference technology support projects, we will support the domestic industry struggling due to COVID-19 and strive to enhance the future competitiveness of Korea’s MICE industry.”

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