Western Busan Also Hits the Jackpot... WB MICE Hub Project Awakens

Busan MICE Industry Ecosystem, Shift and Expansion from East to West

Shilla University Team Leader Kim Jeong-eun Completes Exploration, Contest, and Fam Tour

A project aimed at establishing the foundational system and growth ecosystem to develop West Busan as a MICE (Meetings, Incentives, Conferences, and Exhibitions) hub beyond the Eastern Busan area is beginning to take shape.

Busan City and Silla University announced on the 2nd that they conducted a unique venue discovery and promotion project throughout November to build the WB (West Busan) MICE hub.

This project is designed to lay the groundwork for shifting and expanding the Busan MICE industry ecosystem from Eastern Busan to Western Busan through the discovery and promotion of WB MICE unique venues.

The plan involves exploring and discovering MICE hosting spaces by reutilizing the regional characteristics and spaces that West Busan possesses, and establishing a foundational system network that can expand the Busan MICE industry ecosystem into the West Busan area.

Young people participating in the Seobusan MICE Unique Venue fam tour are receiving information about Space 523.

More than 70 young people, both domestic and international, participated nationwide in this project, acting as the West Busan unique venue exploration team, conducting contests and fam tours.

The WB MICE Hub UV Exploration Team operated from November 1 to 22, the WB MICE Hub UV Contest was held from November 22 to 29, followed by the WB MICE Hub UV Fam Tour on the 30th.

Professor Kim Jeong-eun, head of the WB MICE Hub project and a faculty member of the Department of Hotel and Medical Tourism Management at Silla University, explained, “Through the contest, we hoped to develop MICE content unique to West Busan and enhance on-site experience and creative imagination for development through the fam tour.”

The unique venue exploration team targeted permanent rental facilities capable of simultaneously accommodating groups of 30, 50, and 100 people for meetings and banquets in four West Busan districts: Sasang, Saha, Buk-gu, and Gangseo. Facilities with regional characteristics of West Busan were considered more likely to host MICE events.

The 2024 WB MICE UV Contest was held for one week starting on the 22nd, with the theme “Find the Hidden Unique Points of West Busan.” Participants selected one unique venue located in West Busan and developed MICE planning and operation plans for it.

For awards, one team received the Busan Tourism Organization President’s Award for the grand prize, three teams received the BEXCO CEO Award for excellence, and five teams were awarded the Silla University RIS Project Team Leader Award along with five instructors receiving recognition.

The team that won the grand prize at the 2024 WB MICE UV Contest is receiving the President's Award from the Busan Tourism Organization.

The 2024 WB MICE UV Fam Tour took place on the 30th of last month to enhance on-site experience and creative imagination through field inspections.

The project team stated, “A total of 63 young people, both domestic and international, from nine universities nationwide including Busan proposed brilliant ideas targeting West Busan during the contest. Combining the judges’ and on-site participants’ votes, the grand prize was awarded to a festival proposal featuring donation items submitted by students from the Department of Aviation Services at Joongbu University.”

Professor Kim Jeong-eun of Silla University explained, “The ‘Space 523’ where the fam tour was conducted was proposed by CEO Kwon Hye-ri at the WB MICE Unique Venue Forum and, after evaluation, was selected as the first UV (Unique Venue) in West Busan this year.”

Professor Kim Jeong-eun of Silla University is giving a greeting speech at the West Busan MICE Unique Venue Contest event.

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