While Jeju is already a powerhouse in South Korea’s domestic business events sector, the island is pivoting its strategy toward a more aggressive international outreach for 2026.
Cho Jinhun, general manager, MICE bureau, cruise & ITOP, Jeju Tourism Organization (JTO), explained to TTGmice: “We are focusing our marketing internationally because the local market already knows us. With Jeju being featured in several shows and media outlets recently, it is the perfect time to increase our global visibility.”
Jeju currently hosts approximately 400 international business events annually, ranging from intimate groups of 30 to large-scale gatherings of 4,000. These events are split somewhat evenly between incentive groups and international conferences. While China, Taiwan, and Hong Kong remain the primary source markets, JTO’s Cho identified Singapore and Malaysia as “high-potential regions”, and expressed a strong interest in expanding into Vietnam.
The road to securing more international events is a long-term play.
“We are active at major shows like IMEX America and the Korea MICE Expo. We also organise our own roadshows, and pitch directly to associations, though the lead time for these is significant, and we often don’t know if we’ve been selected until three or four years later,” JTO’s Cho said.
“We are doing a lot of promotions and roadshows. We participated in IMEX America, and Korea MICE Expo, in 2025, for example. We also attend association conferences, and sell our destination to them, but for these, there’s a lot of planning in advance and we never know whether we’ll be selected until three or four years later,” JTO’s Cho said.
When asked what was Jeju’s selling point, JTO’s Cho indicated that Jeju is the only place globally to hold all three major UNESCO natural science designations: Biosphere Reserve (2002), World Natural Heritage (2007), and Global Geopark (2010), plus two Ramsar Wetlands.
These natural assets offer opportunities, ranging from deep scientific exploration for academic delegates to immersive, nature-based experiences for incentive groups, he noted.
JTO’s Cho noted: “The three biggest MICE cities are Seoul, Busan, Jeju. I want our visitors to look at Jeju and think that it is unique, and that we can offer something different to other destinations in South Korea.”
That is why a key part of Jeju Tourism Organization’s outreach strategy is highlighting its Unique Venues project, which provides business events delegates with distinctive experiences by utilising spaces that showcase Jeju’s unique nature and culture.
“In 2025, we selected 16 Unique Venues that met our criteria from the 25 applications. We are focusing on these selected venues and promoting them,” said JTO’s Cho. Spirited Garden, Snoopy Village, 9.81 Park, Bonte Museum, as well as the Jeju Folk Village, are some of the venues on offer.
To encourage the use of Unique Venues, Jeju Tourism Organization offers an incentive programme that provides financial support of 20,000 KRW (US$20) per participant, up to a maximum of 10,000,000 KRW for business events held at any of the listed venues.
“The MICE team within Jeju CVB, which manages and promotes Jeju’s Unique Venues, actively promotes the banquet halls and auxiliary facilities of Grand Hyatt Jeju, when responding to inquiries for government-level events,” said Angus Cho, event planning manager at Grand Hyatt Jeju.
“Overall, the Unique Venues programme helps to highlight parks, gardens, cultural sites, and luxury hotels, all of which help to shape Jeju into an all-round MICE destination. Jeju’s MICE future is promising,” he added.
Grand Hyatt Jeju hosts over 250 events annually, 60 per cent of which are domestic, while the balance are international. Similar to Jeju Tourism Organization’s targets, Grand Hyatt Jeju also targets the China market, although more Japanese visitors have been noticed of late.
Meanwhile, Harry Foo, event director at Singapore-based Evo Communications, opined: “Most of my clients have already seen Busan and Seoul, and Jeju offers very good event facilities. It is also easy to deal with the frontline staff, from DMCs to hotel managers, as they can all speak English.
“Overall, Korea has a lot to offer MICE groups, from K-pop to K-culture, and the various convention bureaus offer very good subventions.”
When asked about 2026’s prospects, JTO’s Cho shared: “We have been very busy for the past few years, but I think it will slow down in 2026. The ICC Jeju (International Convention Center Jeju) was fully booked these two years, but I think it’s going back to normal, like before the pandemic.”
For 2026, a number of large-scale events are already on the cards for International Convention Center Jeju (ICC Jeju).
This includes the 4th Global Conference of Innovation Materials & MRS-K Spring Meeting (May 31 to June 4), 18th ICMDA (International Christian Medical and Dental Association) World Congress (June 30 to July 5), Association for Computing Machinery Knowledge Discovery and Data Mining 2026 (August 9-13).
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