New Experiment in Busan Exhibition and Convention Industry... Business Agreement with Participating Organizations of 'October Busan Festival'

Agreement Signed at City Hall at 11 AM on the 10th for ‘October Busan Festival’ by City and 11 Participating Organizations

New Concept ‘Busan-style Convergent Exhibition Convention Event’, Distributed Hosting Linked with Individual Events

On the 10th at 11 a.m., Busan City will sign a business agreement with 11 participating organizations at the City Hall video conference room to ensure the successful hosting of the Busan-style convergence exhibition convention event tentatively named the ‘October Busan Festival,’ scheduled to be held this year.

Busan City Hall.

This agreement was prepared to maximize the hosting effect through the linkage of individual events currently held separately and to activate exchanges between industries, aiming for the successful hosting of the ‘October Busan Festival’ scheduled to take place over nine days from September 30 to October 8, and to establish a cooperative system.

The agreement includes participation from a total of 11 organizations: ▲ Busan International Film Festival (Busan International Film Festival & Asia Contents Film Market) ▲ Busan Cultural Tourism Festival Organizing Committee (Busan International Rock Festival) ▲ Busan Textile Fashion Industry Association (Busan Fashion Week) ▲ Busan Economic Promotion Agency (Busan Craft Beer Festival) ▲ Busan Design Promotion Agency (Busan Design Festival) ▲ Busan Cultural Foundation (Busan International Performing Arts Market) ▲ Busan IT Industry Promotion Agency (Artificial Intelligence Data Seminar) ▲ Busan Technopark (Asia Startup Expo) ▲ Busan Tourism Organization (World Creative Festival) ▲ BEXCO (co-host) ▲ Re:Convention (co-host).

The city and the 11 participating organizations pledged mutual cooperation through this agreement to ▲ integrated branding for promoting participating events ▲ joint efforts to activate exchanges among industry workers ▲ support for the growth of the local exhibition and convention industry ▲ and the formation and operation of a permanent working council to build a cooperative system.

The Busan-style convergence exhibition convention ‘October Busan Festival,’ being experimentally prepared for the first time this year, is a new concept exhibition convention event with the ultimate goal of industrializing the existing government-led regional event promotion structure into a private sector-driven model.

Preparations include expanding the total number of visitors through integrated ticket sales for participating events, developing an integrated application for participants to strengthen inter-industry connections, operating an integrated pavilion and event zones for offline networking, and establishing linked events to enhance connections between individual events.

The city recognizes that the high value-added exhibition complex (MICE) industry is a key driver for the qualitative growth of Busan tourism and the enhancement of the global city brand. To grow as a world-class convention city, it is necessary to build a private sector-led industrial ecosystem and achieve innovation. As one direction of this innovation, the city has determined that a new concept exhibition convention event, like the world-renowned convergence festival SXSW (South by Southwest), is needed and is preparing to hold it for the first time this year.

Starting with this agreement, the city and the 11 participating organizations plan to meticulously proceed with pre-event procedures such as forming and operating a working council, finalizing the festival name, developing a symbol (CI), and creating a joint application to ensure smooth event execution on September 30.

Mayor Park Hyung-jun stated, “Busan, aspiring to be a ‘global hub city,’ must transform from a city that gathers people to a city where people naturally come together.” He added, “I hope the October Busan Festival will contribute to city marketing and branding for this purpose. In particular, this event is an experimental attempt to hold various events intensively within one period, providing visitors with the joy of choice and naturally encouraging meetings among participants to activate private-sector business. We will ensure that the core identities and strengths of individual events are maintained while establishing a business structure that generates mutual synergy, so that the main purpose is not lost in the process.”

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