Seoul reason: MICE industry gets a boost from Winter Olympics
City is a popular destination for meetings and events, and attracted an impressive number of business visitors during the Pyeongchang Games
Following the 2018 Pyeongchang Winter Olympic Games, Seoul hosted a series of tours from February 10 to 23 to showcase the city to visiting athletes and International Olympic Committee officials.
Launched by the Seoul Metropolitan Government and operated by the Seoul Tourism Organisation (STO), the Winter Olympic Seoul Tour Bus for Olympic Athletes showed athletes and officials some of the city’s most historical sites.
The tour bus took athletes to the city’s major cultural tourist sites, including Bukchon Hanok Village, Insadong, Unesco World Heritage Site Changdeokgung palace, Gyeongbokgung Palace, and the shopping hub of Myeongdong. A traditional Korean lunch was also included.
Tours were joined by 125 individuals over the five days on which they operated. According to STO, athletes and officials were highly satisfied with the tour, with 91 per cent of them saying they would visit Seoul again.
The Winter Olympics had a positive impact on the MICE industry in South Korea, with 230 events with 256,000 participants scheduled in Seoul at the time.