Technologies permeate into MICE industry amid pandemic

A robot that assists in awards ceremonies is showcased during the Korea Tourism Organization's MICE conference held in Suwon Convention Center in Gyeonggi Province, Dec. 5 last year. / Courtesy of Korea Tourism Organization

By Jun Ji-hye

The government as well as local administrations here are paying keen attention to the meetings, incentive trips, conventions and exhibitions (MICE) sector as the industry has been cited as a future growth engine that could contribute to both enhancing the competitiveness of Korea and its cities and boosting their global image.

The Seoul Metropolitan Government is pushing to build a MICE complex in Jamsil, while Busan Metropolitan City is developing the Haeundae area into an international exchange venue.

The MICE industry has already come to attention around the world for creating jobs and revitalizing local economies in regions such as Singapore and Hong Kong.

The sector, however, has faced a crisis amid the prolonged COVID-19 pandemic as meetings, incentive trips, conventions and exhibitions are usually planned as face-to-face experiences.

Following the outbreak of the contagious disease, many conventions and exhibitions have been canceled or gone online. According to the Seoul Tourism Organization, 90 percent of MICE events that were scheduled to take place in Seoul were canceled in the first half of the year following the virus outbreak.

By holding online events, organizers can at least avoid the worst-case scenario ― the cancelation of the events. But online events have serious drawbacks. They do not offer participants opportunities for hands-on experiences or face-to-face meetings for in-depth discussions.

Officials in the MICE industry said those drawbacks could be overcome through the application of Fourth Industrial Revolution technologies.

For example, when the Korea Trade Investment Promotion Agency (KOTRA) held the Korea Brand and Entertainment Expo online for the first time since the expo was launched about a decade ago, KOTRA showcased a variety of content combined with technologies such as livestreaming, virtual reality (VR) and augmented reality (AR).

The annual expo that began on June 13 through the end of August this year is one of the most famous "K-lifestyle festivals" for hallyu, featuring Korean celebrities' appearances and K-pop concerts along with promotion of consumer goods and service products of Korea, according to KOTRA.

The Korea Tourism Organization (KTO) said "meeting technologies" refers to artificial intelligence (AI), AR, VR, the internet of things (IoT) and many other information and communication technologies that can be applied to the MICE sector in order to advance the industry.

The development of meeting technologies is also expected to lead the growth of small- and medium-sized enterprises, according to the KTO.

The development of the technologies is now considered more important than ever as there is no end in sight for the COVID-19 crisis.

Participants hold a meeting with Dahlia El Gazzar, center, a "tech evangelist" and founder of the Dahlia+ Agency, who appears as a hologram image on a monitor, during the Korea Tourism Organization's MICE conference held in Suwon Convention Center in Gyeonggi Province, Dec. 5 last year. / Courtesy of Korea Tourism Organization

In a bid to promote those technologies and help the MICE industry grow, the KTO has pushed for a program since March to offer financial support for the application of these technologies to international conventions scheduled to take place in Korea until February next year.

The beneficiaries of the program include the International Symposium of Science Museums scheduled for Nov. 5 to 6 in Daejeon, the 18th AsiaTEFL International Conference scheduled for Nov. 26 to 28 in Gyeonggi Province and the PyeongChang Peace Forum 2021 scheduled for Feb. 7 to 9 in Gangwon Province.

The beneficiaries will be offered up to 140 million won ($123,000) in applying the meeting technologies, the KTO said, noting that a variety of technologies such as near field communication (NFC), livestreaming and hologram videos will be utilized.

"We will actively utilize meeting technologies to boost the MICE industry that has been largely affected by the prolonged COVID-19 pandemic," a KTO official said. "We will also give full efforts, so the planned international conventions can take place successfully."

In a bid to increase understanding of the technologies, the KTO showcased AI robots and hologram videos during its MICE conference held last December.

For its part, the Seoul Metropolitan Government and the Seoul Tourism Organization have recently announced measures to help the MICE sector enhance its global competitive power in the "new normal" era of the pandemic.

The organization said the city government's support, which has been mostly focused on offline MICE events, will be expanded to online ones in a bid to better cope with changes in the industry amid the public health crisis.

It noted private companies hoping to hold online MICE events based in Seoul will be provided with support in creating virtual exhibition systems and content as well as carrying out overseas promotion.

In particular, up to 100 million won will be offered for events that are thought to have the potential to be developed into global conventions.

In a bid to enhance safety, the city government will also support anti-virus infrastructure for the MICE events such as facial recognition-based temperature measurement systems and thermal imaging cameras.

"We have reformed our support system for the MICE sector so private companies in Seoul can lead changes of the global MICE industry ecosystem and secure global competitiveness," said Joo Yong-tae who is in charge of tourism and sports in the Seoul Metropolitan Government.

"As Korea's advanced anti-virus measures have been drawing worldwide attention, we will continue working to boost Seoul's image as a clean and safe city for MICE events. We are aiming to lead the global MICE market and will become the world's leading MICE city."