 |
Mr. Ahn Joon Ho
General-Director Tourism & Sports, Seoul Metropolitan Government
Did you know?
+ Seoul now ranks in 3rd place worldwide for the number of international congresses held according to the UIA’s latest 2015 International Meetings Statistics Report, with 242 meetings recorded?
+ Seoul also currently ranks 10th in ICCA’s 2016 Country and City Rankings statistics report with 137 meetings.
+ Seoul was included in Lonely Planet’s Top Ten Cities for its annual Best in Travel list and highlighting the city’s green initiatives such as the new Seoullo 7017 Project in which an aging major highway overpass has been constructed into a new urban sky park.
Where to meet?
Seoul’s main convention centers are the aT Center, Coex, and SETEC, all located in or near the Gangnam district. The city is also home to a variety of 50 officially-designated unique meeting venues which meeting planners can qualify for subsidies in hosting their business event. These official unique venues include the Dongdaemun Design Plaza, designed by the late renown architect Zaha Hadid, with a total floor space of 86,574m² and the Hangang River-based Floating Island complex, offering a total building space of 9,995m².
Where to stay?
In over 348 hotels and 46,947 rooms:
+ 5-star hotels with 4,949 rooms, including Conrad Seoul, Four Seasons Seoul, JW Marriott, Grand Intercontinental Seoul, The Grand Hyatt, Millennium Seoul Hilton, The Shilla, Grand Hilton, Sheraton Seoul, Park Hyatt Seoul, and more
+ 4-star hotels with 1,512 rooms, including Lotte City Hotel Myeongdong, KY Heritage Hotel, and more
+ 3-star hotels with 40,802 rooms, including K City Hotel, I.T.W Hotel, and more.
How to get there?
Seoul is served by two international airports. Its main airport, the Incheon International Airport connects directly with most major cities in the world and has consecutively won “Best Airport Asia-Pacific” and “Best Airport by Size (Over 40 million passengers) for many years now by the Airports Council International (ACI), making international travel to, and from, Seoul convenient, fast, and fun. Additionally, a new airport terminal scheduled to open later this year will open service to even more parts of the world while offering more amenities and entertainment options for travelers.
From either airports, congress attendees can easily reach their event venue or hotel via high-speed rail, airport ‘limousine’ bus services, and taxis staffed by English-speaking drivers (or free interpretation service).
Commuting throughout Seoul itself is also easy, thanks to a modern 18-line subway system, (including 9 urban rail lines in Seoul) that connects every corner of the city and has signage, maps, and announcements in English, Korean, and often Chinese and Japanese, as well as a smart, extensive bus system.
Do you offer any special services and/or assistance for associations?
Seoul has launched a new support package for events. It’s called “Plus Seoul” and it contains qualitative, ecological, sustainable, and other factors and through this package to ensure the business event is a success for organizers, satisfaction is high for participants, and that the event itself is unforgettable.
And how this package works is that Seoul’s many varied and different support services are divided into five broad categories. Basically we want to ensure that the formula for your successful event begins with plus Seoul, or by adding Seoul’s comprehensive support.
Whom to contact?
Mr. Ahn Joon Ho
General-Director of Tourism & Sports, Seoul Metropolitan Government
Phone: +82-2-2133-2800
Ms. Yunah Lee
Chief of MICE Planning Team, Seoul Convention Bureau
Phone: +82-2-2133-2800