Seoul is set to return to Incentive Travel & Corporate Meetings (IT&CM) Shanghai in a big way this year, with the Seoul Tourism Organization (STO) presenting for the first time at the Chinese trade show from its own booth. It will also be hosting its first gala evening during the expo, where guests will be treated to a special presentation on Seoul as well as dinner and live performances from popular K-pop artistes Love Cubic and Arias. IT&CM attendees will meanwhile have the opportunity to meet with both STO representatives and some of the city’s major industry businesses.

The evening, entitled Sensational Seoul, will be held on April 18^th from 18.30-21.30 PM at the Intercontinental Shanghai Expo’s Grand Ballrooms. An anticipated 300 guests, including event professionals, buyers and the media from around the world are scheduled to attend.

Highlights of the program include a presentation on Seoul by Seoul Convention Bureau vice-president Maureen O’Crowley, a dinner of Korean cuisine, and door prizes. Musical entertainment will be provided by rising stars Love Cubic, a five-piece female dance combo with a rapidly-growing fan base in China and Japan, while Arias have achieved fame as Korea’s only ‘Girls Trio Popera Group’.

The special gathering is the latest in a long line of successful such events for Seoul, which has hosted similar functions at many major meetings industry capitals worldwide in recent years, including London, Bangkok, and Brussels.

“Sensational Seoul is on par with similar gala evenings Seoul has hosted at IT&CMA Bangkok in previous years, and we’re really looking forward to wowing Shanghai in the same way,” said Ms. O’Crowley.

“We think they’re in for a real treat.”

IT&CM attendees, meanwhile, will be able to visit the Seoul booth and discover why the city is today in the top 5 of international convention cities. Part of this opportunity also includes the chance for one-on-one meetings with six members of the Seoul MICE Alliance. The 72-member alliance is a partnership between the city of Seoul and its major meetings industry businesses.

The six attending members include super-deluxe convention hotel the Grand Hilton Seoul, upcoming unique venue the Dongdaemun Design Plaza, travel agencies Aju Incentive Tours, Golden Space International Travel and US Tour & Travel, and non-verbal theatrical performance troupe JUMP.

The city’s increased presence at IT&CM are part of Seoul’s efforts forge inroads into the growing Chinese market for general and business tourism. Seoul, which in recent years has held such high-profile events as the 5^th G-20 Summit (2010), the World Congress of Dermatology (2011), and the recent Nuclear Security Summit, has also conducted several major Chinese events. Last year, it became the first city outside of a predominantly Chinese population to host the International Dragon Award, the largest annual meeting of China’s insurance industry.  Some 5,700 participants attended the event.

That same year year, a total of 98,794 Chinese citizens visited South Korea on business in 2011. (Source: Korea Tourism Organization)

In September, 8 tour groups totaling approximately 10,000 employees of Chinese health care conglomerate Baojian Group visited Jeju Island and Seoul for an ‘incentive holiday’’. Jeju’s largest incentive tour to date was commemorated with the re-designation of ‘No Car Street’ in Yeondong, Shin Jeju, to ‘Baojian Street’ for the next five years.

The following October, another 141,824 general Chinese tourists visited South Korea, due in large part to ‘Golden Week’, a large holiday period in China during this time. A total of 8,786 Chinese business tourists also visited in the country that same month. (Same source)

IT&CM 2012 runs from April 17-19^th. Find Seoul at booth #186.