Seoul extends its “destination marketing” by being the first city to offer a virtual meetings platform for event organizers.

In response to the COVID-19 era, Seoul Convention Bureau (SCB) launches the “Virtual Seoul Platform” to be used for holding MICE events in the digital world.

According to the organization (and our own knowledge), this is the first city destination marketing organization to build a platform as a MICE destination.

The Union of International Associations claims first user status after holding its UIA Associations Round Table Asia-Pacific 2020 at Virtual Seoul.

The Virtual Seoul Platform accommodates different types of MICE events. Each venue can be developed into a conference hall, workshop rooms, a promotional booth, a VR theatre or a lounge area.

The digital venue can also be customized for different functions matching the specific needs of an event.

It also portrays the city of Seoul in simple, realistic 3D graphics outlining venues and nature. The web-based format allows accessibility without any downloading — and works on mobile devices via Chrome, Edge and Safari.

To represent the charms of Seoul, SCB offers five venues on the platform:

• A traditional palace
• A modern cultural complex
• The all-time-favorite classic landmark tower
• Artificial islands
• A green space in the city

Virtual Seoul includes highly realistic VR videos: There are 360˚ VR videos on Seoul’s landmarks, unique venues, and team-building at the VR theatre. Filmed in the first-person point of view as if one is taking a virtual tour, you can ride a rickshaw to Hanok village, glimpse a temple stay program or inspect a cruise venue (just a few of the programs currently on the list).

The tour extends to Seoul’s partner cities, Gangwon and Gwangju, as well as a special tour video with Honorary Seoul Tourism Ambassador, Eunwoo Cha (South Korean singer, actor and model under the label of Fantagio. He is a member of the South Korean boy group Astro.)

BTS — the famous Korean band (and Seoul Tourism Ambassadors) with 34 million Instagram followers — also welcomes attendees with an official promotional video on a billboard in the lobby.

Jihyun Kim, director at SCB, says the Virtual Seoul Platform offers endless possibilities and rooms — and can be built up in the coming years by adding more venues and programs. The goal is to become a universal source for organizing and hosting any MICE event.

Using the platform is free of charge, but when hosting an online event you’ll need to pay for any modifications (connection/activation fee for using servers) you request.

Here is a video tour of the platform:

More information can be found here: https://www.miceseoul.com/virtual-seoul-platform.