Incheon Metropolitan City and Incheon Tourism Organisation on Friday hosted their first roadshow in the kingdom to boost trade and tourism.
The event was titled "the Incheon Soft Power Thailand Roadshow 2023" and featured a B2B talk between 50 Thai and 21 Incheon tourism-related businesses at the Grand Hyatt Erawan Hotel and a concert featuring K-pop acts alongside traditional performances on the ground floor of Samyan Mitrtown.
Baig Hyeon, president of the Incheon Tourism Organisation, said the roadshow aimed to promote Incheon as a destination for Thai travellers. Thailand was chosen by the Korean government to debut a series of planned events across Southeast Asia.
"Thailand is a hub for Korean culture enthusiasts in this region, and with the expansion of Korean cultural products across the world, this roadshow will help to promote Korea to the rest of the world," he said.
He said Incheon also has its strengths in the Meetings, Incentives, Conferences and Exhibitions (Mice) industry and is also known as a medical hub equipped with world-class medical facilities and a special centre for certain diseases. "Currently, there are 93 medical places and 59 health and wellness organisations in Incheon. This year, we plan to make a proactively promote Incheon's medical expertise," he added.
Incheon Metropolitan City Deputy Mayor Lee Haeng-sook said Incheon is in a strategic location where international facilities such as Incheon International Airport are located.
The city is also enriched with a long history, as well as playing host to the Asian Games 2014 and the recent 56th Asian Development Bank Annual Meeting from May 2–5. Incheon is highly experienced in hosting major world events. As Korea was the 2025 Apec host, she said Incheon Metropolitan City was currently preparing the city to be voted as the hosting venue.
"Incheon already has global standard infrastructure, which will make transport and living much easier. Compared to other cities, our international airport and ports, world-class national convention hall named Songdo Convensia, and large resorts, we are ready to serve guests around the world," she said.
Thai tourist numbers are rising again, said Ms Lee. During the first quarter, 97,049 Thais visited, which surpasses the total number of Thai visitors before the pandemic in 2019 at 89,400. The roadshow in the region will bring more tourists and investment to Incheon and to South Korea, she said.
