On the 5th of this month, Shinsegae Duty Free announced that it has signed a strategic business agreement with the MICE Committee of the China Travel Service Association to promote MICE (Meetings, Incentives, Conferences, and Exhibitions) tourism between Korea and China. This is the first instance in Korea’s duty-free industry to collaborate with a national travel association to create synergies for the growth and development of the travel industry.
The agreement comes at a significant time when relations between the two countries are recovering, following the recent APEC summit in Gyeongju and the Korea-China summit meeting. Through this partnership, both parties plan to secure a large network for Chinese tourists and generate practical business synergies utilizing local promotional channels.
Specifically, they aim to collaborate on promoting Korea’s excellent MICE resources, offer tailored promotions and joint marketing for Chinese MICE group tourists, improve duty-free shop service convenience and quality, and discover cooperative projects to activate Korea-China tourism, distribution, and cultural exchanges.
The China Travel Service Association, supervised by the Ministry of Culture and Tourism, is the only national-level travel industry cooperation organization and consists of about 3,000 member companies, including travel agencies, airlines, and accommodation providers. The MICE Committee plays a pivotal role in the Chinese MICE industry by organizing international forums, conducting market research, providing policy consulting, and facilitating exchanges. It recently hosted the ‘1st International Travel Service Conference’ in Hainan.
Through this agreement, Shinsegae Duty Free aims to establish an official cooperation channel with Chinese MICE networks, expand opportunities to attract Chinese MICE groups to Korea, and enhance brand promotion through participation in local MICE-related events. This is expected to further invigorate Korea-China tourism and distribution exchanges at major tourist hubs, including Shinsegae Duty Free’s Myeongdong store.
By the end of this year, Shinsegae Duty Free plans to attract over 60,000 MICE tourists through incentive group programs, totaling 140,000 Chinese tourists. A representative from Shinsegae Duty Free stated, “We will strengthen our competitiveness in attracting MICE visitors and create new vitality for Korea-China tourism exchanges at major domestic tourist destinations, including Myeongdong.”