Gyeonggi Province Designates Area Around Suwon Convention Center as 'International Conference Complex District'
[Suwon Ilbo=Reporter Kim Gap-dong] The area around Suwon Convention Center in Youngtong-gu, Suwon City has been designated as an International Conference Complex District.
The designation of the International Conference Complex District is the second in Gyeonggi Province following the Goyang Kintex area in 2018. With two International Conference Complex Districts now located uniquely in Gyeonggi Province nationally, it has become established as a hub for the domestic MICE industry.
On the 22nd, Gyeonggi Province announced the designation of the 'Suwon International Conference Complex District' through the official gazette and the Gyeonggi Province homepage. Previously, the province received approval from the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism on the 15th for the 'Gyeonggi Province Suwon International Conference Complex District Promotion and Development Plan.'
The Suwon International Conference Complex District is centered on Suwon Convention Center and includes Galleria Department Store, Lotte Outlet, Avenue France, Suwon Gwanggyo Museum, Suwon Municipal Art Space Gwanggyo, and Suwon World Cup Stadium, with a designated area of approximately 2.1 million square meters.
Upon designation as an International Conference Complex District, benefits equivalent to those of tourism special zones are provided, including exemptions from development impact fees, traffic congestion fees, alternative forest creation fees, agricultural land preservation fees, and floor area ratio relaxations. Additionally, national treasury funding becomes available through public contests for promoting the activation of International Conference Complex Districts undertaken by the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism.
The province plans to develop the area around Suwon Convention Center as a key hub for the southern region of Gyeonggi Province's MICE industry as a result of this designation. The policy is to establish a structure that leads to regional economic revitalization and job creation through expanded hosting of international conferences and linkages with tourism and cultural industries.
Gyeonggi Province Governor Kim Dong-yeon said, "The Suwon Convention Center and Gwanggyo area is a region where international conference and tourism and cultural infrastructure are concentrated," and added, "With the designation of the Suwon International Conference Complex District, we will strengthen the regional hub system of Gyeonggi Province's MICE industry."
An International Conference Complex District refers to an area where accommodation, retail, cultural, and sporting facilities directly and indirectly related to international conferences are concentrated around international conference facilities, in accordance with the 'Act on Fostering the International Conference Industry.' It is designated for the purpose of strengthening competitiveness in attracting international conferences and achieving linked growth of the MICE industry.
The MICE industry refers to a high-value-added complex service industry centered on corporate meetings (Meeting), incentive tours (Incentive tour), international conferences (Convention), and exhibitions (Exhibition). It is regarded as a future strategic industry because per-participant consumption is higher than general tourism, and it has broad economic ripple effects on related industries such as accommodation, transportation, and culture.