Jeju emerges as MICE hub in Asia

By Lee Hyo-sik

Korea’s southern resort island of Jeju has emerged as a popular destination for commercial meetings and corporate tour programs as it holds a wide range of international gatherings on the island over the years.

To become one of Asia’s top meeting, incentive, convention and exhibition (MICE) destinations, Jeju has to make more efforts to improve its infrastructure and promote itself overseas, the island’s top tourism official said.

In an interview with The Korea Times, Yang Young-keun, CEO of Jeju Tourism Organization, said, ``We first need to host as many international meetings as possible to show the world that Jeju is the perfect place for both business and leisure. The 15th Inter-Island Tourism Policy Form, which took place from Sept. 28 to 30 at the Lotte Hotel Jeju, certainly helped boost the island’s image as an attractive MICE destination.’’ Nearly 200 participants from 11 countries across the globe took part in the three-day meeting.

But Yang said Jeju has a long way to go before it becomes a truly popular spot for cooperate meetings.

``The central government should allocate a larger budget for Jeju to expand lodging facilities and other tourism infrastructures on the island, given the poor financial condition of Jeju Special Self-Governing Provincial Government. It also needs to ease regulations on the tourism sector so that private businesses are more encouraged to invest money here,’’ former tourism development professor at Tamna University said.

Yang then said the island should have large convention facilities, adding that the current Jeju International Convention Center can only house 3,000. ``Marina Bay Sands Hotel in Singapore can alone accommodate up to 30,000. We will definitely build more convention centers on the island. But it is impossible without financial assistance from the central government.’’

The CEO said Jeju should have multinational resort and hotel chains, such as Marriott and Hilton, build comprehensive leisure facilities to become a competitive MICE destination. ``Foreign tourists coming to international gatherings also need to have fun. We should be equipped with a range of leisure infrastructure, including casinos and theme parks, to entertain them. For this, we also need the central government to take an active role,’’ Yang stressed.

He then floated an idea of building a second airport on the south of the island, exclusively for low cost carriers.

``Jeju International Airport will soon reach its saturation point if visitors continue to increase at the current pace. We definitely need another airport to accommodate the rapidly growing number of tourists,’’ Yang said.

He then urged Korean Air and other local airlines to increase the number of flights connecting Jeju with both domestic and international cities, as well as to operate larger airplanes such as the Airbus 380 to bring in more visitors at a time.