Baig Hyeon, president of the Incheon Tourism Organization (ITO), marked his second year in office.
Since his inauguration, Baig’s most prominent achievement has been securing assets worth 120 billion won by receiving in-kind investments in Sangsang (Imagination) Platform in Incheon.
President Baig made meaningful changes in the ITO. Under his leadership, the ITO shifted its focus to its own projects from projects done by agencies, and laid the foundation for self-reliance through revenue generation.
As a prelude to Incheon’s Renaissance, the ITO took the lead in turning an old grain warehouse in Incheon’s inner harbor into a complex cultural space.
President Baig is an expert in attracting overseas tourists. The ITO restored more than 70 percent of its overseas network damaged in the COVID-19 pandemic.
It directly attracted 240,000 foreign tourists as of September this year. This is more than 220,000 annual target set by the ITO.
The Incheon Maekgang Party, launched last year at the suggestion of Baig, is a global event where visitors can enjoy Shinpo Dakgangjeong (deep-fried and braised chicken), local beer and various cultural performances.
The event attracted about 10,000 overseas tourists this year, up from 3,000 in 2023.
In May, the ITO cooperated with the Korean immigration office to conduct onboard immigration screening to secure stay time for 4,000 foreign cruise tourists in Incheon and promoted the growth of the Incheon economy through their shopping at traditional markets in Incheon.
Moreover, the ITO successfully attracted large-scale conferences, such as Nu Skin’s global corporate conference and the WDFSA 2026 World Congress, raising the status of Incheon as a MICE hot spot.
It drew about 27,000 global tourists to the Incheon Pentaport Music Festival and the INK Concert.
In the medical tourism industry, regarded as a high value-added industry, the ITO attracted 14,606 foreign patients in 2023, a whopping 84.8 percent increase from 2022.
2024 ISITM in Songdo, Incheon
The 2024 Incheon Songdo International Meetings Complex MICE Travel Mart (ISITM) wrapped up successfully in late October.
The Incheon City government and the ITO evaluated that the 2024 ISITM publicized the importance of the Songdo International Conference Complex and strengthened the network of MICE companies around the world.
The 2024 ISITM ran at the Songdo International Conference Complex for four days from Oct. 22 to 25.
The travel mart attracted 30 buyers from six countries to business-to-business (B2B) meetings with the Incheon MICE Alliance (IMA).
A total of 176 business-to-business meetings were held at the Sheraton Grand Hotel on October 23 with 50 of them suggesting Incheon as their host city.
Experts say that those meetings increased the value of Incheon’s MICE industry in Korea and abroad.
Exclusive Incheon Roadshow in Vietnam
The Incheon City government and the ITO announced that they successfully held the Exclusive Incheon Roadshow for local businesses and travel agencies in Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam, on Nov. 12 and 14.
The event was quite meaningful in that 11 members of the Incheon MICE Alliance and six medical organizations in Incheon participated in business consultations and briefings with Vietnamese officials and VIPs to publicize Incheon as an optimal city for tourism and MICE events and draw Vietnamese tourism and MICE groups to Incheon.
In particular, a total of 280 business consultations were carried out in Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City.
Of these, 30 percent of the consultations resulted in positive consideration for attracting tourists to Incheon and holding MICE events in Incheon.
Accordingly, more Vietnamese tourists are highly likely to visit Incheon for tourism and MICE events.
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