Insurance groups flock to Seoul

It’s been a big first half of the year for Seoul, with several major incentive groups already visiting and plenty more to follow.

Allianz Life Indonesia took 2,000 high achievers to the Korean capital in March, while the second quarter saw 1,700 employees of Prudential Life Insurance Hong Kong, 269 staff from Manulife Indonesia and 1,600 employees of a Japanese communications firm rewarded with a Seoul trip.

The groups have been making the most of industry efforts spearheaded by Seoul Tourism Organization (STO) to open up the city’s historic and modern cultural attractions for groups, form co-ordinated professional networks such as the 300-member strong Seoul MICE Alliance, and offer targeted incentives to planners such as the newly revamped PLUS Seoul campaign.  

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The campaign has seen the Allianz group enjoy K-Pop performances, board specially branded buses and take over Dongdaemun Design Plaza; the Manulife group enjoying a Paint Performance of their corporate story during a gala dinner at Floating Island Convention, and the Prudential group taking cooking classes at Korea House.

Based on group size, the customised features of PLUS SEOUL include company-branded cakes and cookies for events with 50-199 participants, team-building programs and entertainment for 200-499 participants, event-branding on buses and photo mosaic walls for 500-999 participants, and event videos and on-site Korean cosmetic booths for 1,000 or more participants. These features all come on top of core PLUS SEOUL benefits including financial, promotional and operational support.

“We are seeing a strong increase in the number corporate groups visiting Seoul from the Asia-Pacific as a result of our PLUS SEOUL campaign and related ongoing efforts to promote our city as an attractive incentive travel destination,” said an STO representative. “We anticipate continued growth along this trend for the second half of 2019.