Gyeonggi Province Cultivates Region-Specific Conventions Such as 'Suwon World Heritage City Forum'

[Suwon Ilbo=Reporter Park No-hun] Gyeonggi Province and the Gyeonggi Tourism Organization are recruiting private event organizations to participate in the 'Region-Specific Convention Cultivation Project' to develop conventions (exhibitions and conferences) held on local industry themes into international events by March 28.

This recruitment aims to cultivate Gyeonggi Province's representative global events by linking local specialized industries with conventions, similar to the Seongnam Medical Tourism Convention and Ansan Surface Treatment Technology Conference.

This year, the number of selected events has been increased by one compared to last year to a total of four, with support funding of up to 65 million won per event.

The funding can be utilized across various items including domestic and international promotion costs and online video conference systems.

For those selected in this recruitment project, a consulting group consisting of academics and professional international conference planners will provide overall diagnosis of events and consultation for advancing into international convention events, including event internationalization and activation of regional tourism economy linked to local industries.

The recruitment can be participated in by all 31 cities and counties forming consortiums with companies and affiliated organizations, or by private event organizations.

However, events submitted by organizations must be related to Gyeonggi Province's promising industries such as semiconductors, displays, renewable energy industries (hydrogen, etc.), and AI (artificial intelligence), or specialized industries of cities and counties.

Additionally, the convention must be a conference or exhibition-accompanied event held for two or more days, with a total of 300 or more participants including 50 foreigners from 3 countries.

The province has designed a structure to advance as 'K-convention' leading global MICE industry trends by establishing new bonus items such as green MICE (ESG) and online technology in evaluation criteria.

Organizations wishing to participate in the recruitment project can apply by March 28 through the Gyeonggi Tourism Organization website (www.gto.or.kr).

Choi Yong-hun, head of the Gyeonggi Province Tourism Division, said, "Convention events often end as regional events, but Gyeonggi Province has many conventions with international growth potential," and added, "We will support the cultivation of Gyeonggi Province's representative conventions linked with local industries, tourism, and culture to strengthen global competitiveness."

Meanwhile, the province previously selected three as Gyeonggi Province region-specific conventions ▲Goyang International Destination Competitiveness Forum ▲Suwon World Heritage City Forum ▲Seongnam International Medical Tourism Convention and supported event hosting.