Seoul voted 'Best MICE City' for 10th year in row

The Seoul Living Design Fair takes place on Nov. 28 at Coex Magok, a convention center that recently opened in Gangseo-gu, western Seoul. (Pool photo via Yonhap)

South Korea’s capital city, Seoul, was voted the “Best MICE City” for the 10th year in a row during the Global Traveler Tested Reader Survey Awards, according to the Seoul Metropolitan Government and the Seoul Tourism Organization, Monday.

MICE is an acronym that stands for the meeting, incentive travel, convention, exhibition and event sectors.

According to the Seoul city government, Global Traveler is a travel magazine publishing company based in the US that annually collects reader polls to identify the best airlines, hotels and tourism services in various categories. Notably, 43 percent of its readers are MICE planners and organizers, with an average annual income of approximately 540 million won ($385,000).

This year, around 300,000 people took part in the Global Traveler’s annual polls.

With this year being Seoul’s 10th consecutive year of receiving the Best MICE City award from the US-based magazine, the capital city was also registered under the Global Traveler’s Hall of Fame.

The city government cited its marketing strategies behind Seoul’s rise as a global MICE destination. For example, the city currently runs the Plus Seoul program, a comprehensive support initiative for the domestic MICE industry that assists in hosting and running MICE events.

The city government added that it also actively promotes its appeal as a MICE hub by participating in international MICE exhibitions and on-site promotions abroad. Some of the international events Seoul participated in this year included the IMEX in Las Vegas and Frankfurt and ITB Asia in Singapore.

With the recent opening of Coex Magok in Gangseo-gu, western Seoul, the city government added that it will add more “world-class MICE infrastructure” around Jamsil Sports Complex and Seoul Station by 2031. Three MICE clusters, integrated with shopping, culture and tourism facilities, are also scheduled to be built in southwestern, central and southeastern Seoul.

“Seoul has recently emerged as one of the trendiest cities worldwide, thanks to K-pop and Korean food. This appeal extends to the MICE sector, making it a highly sought-after destination,” said Kim Young-hwan, the city government’s director general of the Tourism and Sports Bureau. “With this recognition, the city government will work to support the MICE industry further and to solidify Seoul’s status as a global business hub.”