An aerial view of Songdo, Incheon

President Min Min-hong of Incheon Tourism Organization (ITO). (Photos: ITO)

Incheon has made history in numerous fields since the opening of its port in 1883. To name a few, the Gyeongin Line, Korea’s first railway line between Incheon and Seoul, opened in 1888. Incheon port piers were established in 1919.

Korea’s first highway, Gyeongin Expressway, was opened, and Incheon International Airport, one of the world’s top-rated airports, made its debut in 2001 to cap all traffic hub connections by land, sea and air.

Accommodation and cultural facilities for the MICE (meetings, incentives, conferences and exhibitions) industry sprung up in Incheon. The Daebul Hotel, a Japanese-style, two-story wooden structure, was opened as an accommodation facility for foreign merchants and missionaries to make a stopover before they left for Seoul. The hotel was rebuilt into a three-story building.

The new hotel, dedicated in 1888, was Korea’s first Western-style hotel designed to accommodate foreigners. The hotel was closed in 1919 due to the opening of the Gyeongin Railroad Line, allowing foreign customers to directly go up to Seoul.

The hotel became a Chinese restaurant before it was erased by history. But in 2018, the Incheon Metropolitan Government restored the hotel building, whose facade is similar to the original one based on photos of the hotel and its ground plan on the hotel site. Items on the history of the Daebul Hotel, built at the time of the opening of the port, and modern hotels are on display there.

The formerly Daebul Hotel is used as Jungbu Life Exhibition Hall.

The Jemulpo Club, Korea’s first social club for foreigners, was opened in 1891. The club was equipped with amenities for social activities such as a billiard room, a reading room, and a separate tennis court.

The designation of Songdo, Yeongjong and Cheongna International City as the Incheon Free Economic Zone (IFEZ), the nation’s first FEZ, in 2003 was a watershed event to transform Incheon, which had grown up with the historic events, into a logistics, business, leisure and tourism center of Northeast Asia.

 
Songdo International City, still under development, specializes in international financing & trade, regional infrastructure industry, and eco-friendly international business zones. Living up to the name “Incheon International City,” the city accommodates 15 international institutions like Green Climate Fund headquarters and World Bank Korea office as well as several global campuses, including State University of New York Korea, George Mason University Korea, and University of Ghent.

Songdo, designated as the nation’s first international conference complex in 2018, has risen to become one of the best MICE cities of the present age.

Cheongna International City is being reborn into a center of international business and leisure, while Yeongjong is growing into a district optimal for logistics connected with Incheon International Airport and tourism industries.

Songdo, the nation’s first international conference complex, boasts convenient traffic with a 20-minute driving distance from Incheon International Airport via the Incheon Grand Bridge, the nation’s longest bridge and rich MICE facilities – with the convention center Sondo Convensia as the center and a cluster of four and five-star hotels, shopping centers, cultural, commercial and research facilities as well as sightseeing spots.

A view of Songdo Convensia.

Songdo Convensia, where advanced technologies and eco-friendliness coexist, is considered to be an optimal MICE destination as the convention center, being expanded a two-fold in size in 2018, is outfitted with exhibition halls capable of accommodating 900 booths and 20,000 spectators and 35 small- and mid-size conference rooms.

Songdo is full of diverse and unique venues such as conferences and gala dinners, as well as other experiences. Gyeongwonjae Ambassador Incheon is Korea’s sole five-star hanok (traditional Korean house) hotel, showcasing the beauty of traditional Korean house in a contrast with modern skyscrapers.

An overall view of Gyeongwonjae Ambassador Incheon.

The hotel is connected with Songdo Central Park, a 410,000 square meter marine park. The park’s night views were filmed for hit dramas such as “Descendants of the Sun.”

Art Center Incheon, which opened as a global multi-purpose cultural space in 2018, is noted for its unique architectural design of imagining a commanding maestro. The facility capable of accommodating 1,000 people, has outside and inside banquet halls with seaside and sunset sights.

Paradise City on Yeongjong Island is Northeast Asia’s first integrated resort with a conference room capable of accommodating up to 1,800 people, and it is located a 3-minute ride from Incheon Int’l Airport, an optimal distance for MICE. The resort boasts hotels, casinos, convention centers, shopping malls, art galleries, spas, clubs and performances where diverse cultural and other experiences can be enjoyed in one space.

A breathing-taking view of Paradise City.

Incheon is famous for its shopping, food and diverse experiences.

Visitors can enjoy diverse shopping at places ranging from luxury goods stores to factory stores to large-size shopping malls like Hyundai Premium Outlet in Songdo and Entas Duty Free.

Incheon is well known as the birthplace of foods such as “jjolmyeon” and jajangmyeon.

The Old Songdo area is noted as Incheon’s representative alley of eateries. There are numerous things to see and enjoy in the Incheon area. Seagulls in the sea are seen the nearest from Solchan Park on the southern shore of Songdo, and beautiful sunset can be appreciated.

Kalkuksu, a noodle soup.

Haemultang, a spicy seafood stew.

Not only water taxi, canoe, board and other diverse water leisure activities can be experienced at Songdo Central Park, but also diverse seafoods can be enjoyed on top of the natural landscape around beaches like Eurwangri, Masian, and Wangsan in the Yeongjong district.

In Seaside Park, there are a railbike site in which visitors can ride a bike on a rail track while appreciating the West Sea, an artificial waterfall, and a footbath tub , and they can walk along a road to see mud flats and sunset.

Incheon has a track record of hosting large-sized international conferences like the 6th OECD World Forum and the 2015 World Education forum and small- and mid-size diverse MICE events.

This year, the city was venue of the Asia-Pacific Forestry Week 2019 and the Yoroya Luxury World Tour. ADB’s 53rd Annual Meeting will be held in Songdo Convensia in May 2020.

Finance ministers and vice ministers from each Asian country as well as financial experts will get together to ramp up cooperation with the southern and norther regions of Asia, and the event is also expected to contribute to building a foundation for peace and prosperity on the Korean Peninsula. Incheon has continued to grow as MICE destinations.

Visitors can enjoy water taxi and other water amusement activities at Songdon Central Park in Songdo.

Incheon, MICE Destination

Incheon City government and Incheon Tourism Organization (ITO) are offering diverse support to efforts to attract and host MICE events. Incheon is concentrating on ramping up MICE networking and securing gifted manpower.

The Incheon MICE Alliance, a civilian consultative body comprising of the MICE industry such as the Incheon Metropolitan Government, the ITO (MICE Bureau), the international convention facility Songdo Convensia, accommodations and other MICE services, is expanding its membership and activities as well as ramping competitiveness through information sharing and joint marketing activities.

The Young MICE Leader Project is in place to conduct education on the enhancing of capacities targeting university students and graduates living in the Seoul metropolitan area , including Incheon, and diverse MICE activities.

They support for entering the MICE industry while hosting the 'International Organization-MICE Career Fair' annually to serve as a platform to share information between international bodies and the MICE industry and match job creation.

Incheon’s MICE industry has come a long way, with firsts in the nation’s transportation, accommodations and others.

As Incheon, armed with superb infrastructure, network, and knowhow, has hosted international conventions and corporate events, the city has gained global recognition as one of best MICE designations.

Inchoen is making all-out efforts to pursue the continued growth of the MICE industry by nurturing the industry based on international institutions and the fostering of specialized conventions and exhibitions in conjunction with the development of the city’s major strategic industries.

Incheon is also endeavoring for citizens and regional development like the exploration of unique venues in the Old City area, pursing shared growth between New City and Old City and reinvigorating regional commercial activities through developing MICE tour programs using regional resources.

 Efforts to nurture the MICE industry, which has greater job creation and other economic spill-over effects, is expected to serve as a growth engine to reinvigorate the regional economy of Incheon.

Songdo’s designation as the nation’s first international conference complex in 2018 was a watershed event in the development of Incheon’s MICE industry. Caesars Korea Integrated Resort is to make its debut in Yeongjong Island in 2021, and Inspire Integrated Resort with a five-star, 1,245-room hotel, a multi-purpose concert hall with 15,000 seats, convention facilities, and a casino for foreigners will be added in 2022.

As such, a cluster of Paradise City, Caesars Korea Integrated Resort and Inspire Integrated Resort in Yeongjong Island near Incheon International Airport that will lead to the better environment of the MICE industry is expected to raise Incheon in a better position in competition with global MICE mega cities.

Incheon, armed with an economic hub airport and advanced MICE infrastructure, is poised to have a potential of being a MICE city corresponding to an era of smart technology convergence. Incheon aims to establish itself as one of the world’s top 10 MICE cities.