In response to the prolonged COVID-19 situation, Korea MICE Bureau, under the Korea Tourism Organization (KTO), released an updated COVID-19 support program for International Conventions to provide extra assistance to groups affected by the pandemic.

The new support program allows for more conventions to receive support with a relaxed eligibility criteria, and introduces adjustments which take hybrid and online events into account. Whereas the previous support provided different eligibility criteria depending on whether the convention was hosted by an international organization or not, the new support program will provide a single eligibility criteria for all international conventions.

Under the new eligibility criteria, all conventions must have a minimum of 100 total attendees with at least 50 foreign attendees, and the event must last 1 day or longer. Further, online, offline and hybrid meetings all qualify for support, and the total attendee count will include both online and offline attendees.

International conventions which satisfy the above criteria are further distinguished into A and B Type events depending on the event start date. Conventions with a starting date between November 10, 2020 ~ June 30, 2021 will fall under Type A, and events with a start date between April 13 ~ November 9, 2020 will fall under Type B. The application deadline for Type B events is December 10, 2020. The amount of support provided will vary depending on the type and size of the event.

In addition to this base support, extra support items have been added as well, including support towards digital technology use during the event, support for venue rental and labor costs related to COVID-19 prevention, support for events held at Unique Venues and more. Select support items are available only for A Type events, so please be sure to check the support guidelines for full details. The updated support guidelines and eligibility criteria document can be found on the Korea MICE Bureau website under Conventions Support (http://www.koreaconvention.org/eng/help/conventionsupport.kc). You may also contact the Korea MICE Bureau directly for any additional inquiries.