Professor Pan Yao of the University of North Carolina, whom I met on the 9th at the “International Conference on Machine Learning” (ICML) held at COEX in Samseong-dong, said this when I asked him when the best time of year is to enjoy a trip to Seoul. He explained that he had promised his wife—who had expressed envy after seeing photos of the COEX area—a trip to Seoul to appease her, and that he had already booked a walking tour of COEX and Bongeunsa Temple, as well as a Han River bus tour and a Han River night view tour. Professor Pan added, “I’ve participated in events held in various cities, but this is my first time using a ‘bleisure’ program,” noting, “It’s great to be able to experience the feeling of a vacation even while on an official business trip.”
According to the Seoul Metropolitan Government on the 14th, 215 people participated over four days in the “Bleisure” tourism program, which was showcased at the ICML event venue from the 6th to the 9th. While this number may not seem large at first glance, the tourism and MICE industries view it as a meaningful achievement, considering that it was an unofficial event program with no separate official guidance or announcements, as well as the inclement rainy weather. Some also view this as an opportunity to gauge the popularity and market potential of the Bleisure tourism program—which had been under development—through pop-up marketing targeting international event participants.
The promotional booth, operated as a pop-up for four days, was visited by nearly 800 event participants, and it was reported that over 450 one-on-one consultations regarding travel to Seoul—including bleisure tourism—were conducted. An official from the Seoul Metropolitan Government’s MICE Policy Team explained, “Participants in the bleisure program expressed an intention to revisit Seoul,” adding, “Program satisfaction was also very high, averaging over 4.5 points (out of 5).”
“Bleisure”—which combines business-related travel with leisure and recreation—is a sector the Seoul Metropolitan Government is strategically developing to expand high-value tourism demand. The Seoul Metropolitan Government set up a promotional booth on the first floor of COEX, the event venue, for four days from the 6th to the 9th, offering foreign participants eight different “Bleisure” tourism programs. These included walking tours around COEX and Bong-eunsa Temple, city center tours combining traditional markets, temples, and museums, and night tours featuring the Han River Bus and the Han River night view.
ICML, held at COEX for a week from the 6th to the 11th, is the world’s most prestigious international academic conference in the fields of artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning. The event, which rotates among cities worldwide each year, brings together AI and machine learning researchers, developers, and corporate representatives from around the globe to present over 10,000 cutting-edge research papers. This year’s 43rd conference—the first ever held in Korea—drew a total of approximately 15,000 participants, including some 14,000 from overseas, and featured nearly 24,000 research papers—the highest number in the event’s history.
An official from the Seoul Metropolitan Government’s MICE Policy Team stated, “In a survey conducted among visitors to the promotional pavilion and participants in the bleisure tourism program, 40% of all respondents reported enjoying leisure activities for at least three days during the seven-day event,” adding, “We plan to further refine the bleisure program by reflecting the preferences of business travelers revealed through the survey, such as city landmarks, historical and cultural sites, and culinary experiences.”
