BUSAN < invest Korea

According to Yonhap News,

Busan City and Busan Convention & Visitors Bureau (BCVB) said on March 10th that the number of international conferences held in Busan posted the record high of 233 last year.

The figure is 24 higher than 2009’s 199.

Also, the number of participants rose by 2.6 times from about 61,000 in 2009 to 158,000 (including 43,000 foreigners) in 2010, the highest in history.

Especially, 26 large-scale conferences where over 1,000 people took part were held last year, also the best record ever.

Busan city said the global conferences in Busan are equivalent to KRW 490 billion in economic effect (based on the standards of the Korea Tourism Organization: expenditure of USD 2,488 per person).

By sector, 38 conferences were in science technology (17%), followed by 25 in education (11.2%), 25 in maritime (11.2%), and 23 in medicine (10.3%).

Hotels were the most popular venue for international events with 91 conferences (39%), trailed by BEXCO with 71 (31%, including those held at Nurimaru APEC House), universities with 50 (22%), and others with 20 (9%).

Busan City said “Busan City, BCVB, BEXCO, international conference organizers, high-end hotels, and travel agencies have been committed to promoting the convention industry,” and added “the infrastructure for the industry will be expanded more, brightening the prospect for hosting a number of quality global congresses.”

Source Text

Source: Yonhap News (March 10, 2011)

**This is an English translation of a Korean news article.