C-Festival, the global MICE festival, to be held in Samseong-dong, Seoul, Korea, in May 2015

New direct flights between Newcastle and Canberra and a new arrivals hall at Newcastle Airport that will see conference delegates personally welcomed on TV screens and by airport ambassadors will boost business tourism in the Greater Hunter region, according to the leaders of the Altogether Perfect marketing group tasked with luring more corporate travellers to Newcastle, Port Stephens and the Hunter Valley.

Sydney-based Pelican Airlines will launch direct flights between Newcastle and Canberra on April 27, 2015, under its Fly Pelican brand, using 19-seat BAE Jetstream 32 turboprop aircraft. The airline will offer a morning service from Newcastle to the national capital and a late afternoon return flight plus a Sunday afternoon service. A short service between Newcastle and Sydney Airport will also operate.

The announcement coincides with the completion of stage one of a $14.5 expansion of Newcastle Airport which will see a 50 per cent bigger terminal increase capacity, facilitate the growth of domestic flights and provide the infrastructure for potential international services in the future. The new, now-completed arrivals hall offers personal, TV screen greetings for VIP and conference group delegates as well as welcomes and assistance offered by the airport’s new volunteer ambassadors.

Stage two of the airport expansion, which includes a full refurbishment of the existing terminal and improvements to the departures area, will be completed by late 2015. A 95-room hotel worth $8 million will open next to the airport later this year also.

Serving nearby Newcastle, Port Stephens and the Hunter Valley, Newcastle Airport is the second busiest airport in NSW and the 12th busiest in Australia, with 170 domestic flights a week and 1.2 million passengers a year. Currently Virgin Australia, Jetstar, QantasLink and Regional Express offer direct flights between Newcastle and Melbourne, Brisbane, the Gold Coast, Ballina and Taree.

The Business Events and Conventions Developer for the Newcastle Convention Bureau, Georgia Lazzari, said the new-look Newcastle Airport and the new Canberra connection significantly enhanced the appeal of business events in Newcastle, the Hunter Valley and Port Stephens.

“As the base for many government departments, Canberra is obviously a key source of business for conferences and meetings in our region and when corporate groups arrive here, Newcastle Airport is now able to personally welcome them so we see expect to see more corporate travellers from Canberra heading to the Greater Hunter soon,” Ms Lazzari said.
SEOUL, South Korea - The C-Festival Organizing Committee (Chairman: Kim In-Ho of KITA) is hosting the 2015 C-Festival, the performing festival converging culture, arts and technology at the Korea World Trade Center in Samseong-dong, Seoul for 11 days from April 30 to May 10, 2015.

The goal of C-Festival is to foster the MICE Cluster established by the 13 companies of the Korea World Trade Center in Samseong-dong into the MICE business hub of Korea and Asia. It aims to be "the world's only global MICE business convergence festival."

The festival will be hosted at the Korea World Trade Center including COEX from April 30 to May 10, 2015. C-Festival will feature diverse content including exhibitions and conferences highlighting new concept converging culture, arts and technology. The cultural exchange exhibition will be based on content from Korea, China, Japan and Russia. Concurrent events include a culture & technology exhibition, art collaboration exhibition, large-scaled international medical conference, AFECA, MICE forum, performances leading the Korean wave and events including K-pop performances and media arts.

In addition, EXO, the K-pop idol group representing SM Entertainment, which is participating in the Korea World Trade Center MICE Cluster, was selected as an ambassador of C-Festival to promote the festival and Korean pop culture globally.

MICE Cluster (The C-Festival Organizing Committee) plans to host the festival on an annual basis, starting with the 2015 C-Festival. This will fortify the position of the Korea World Trade Center as the MICE business leader of Asia, while attracting buyers and tourists with differentiated content converging culture, arts and technology. Korea World Trade Center and its neighborhood will promote the C-Festival as the Edinburgh Festival of Korea focusing on MICE, and improving national brand awareness by activating the domestic economy and the service sector.

The Chairman of MICE Cluster, Byun Bo-Kyung (CEO of COEX), said, "We will successfully host C-Festival in May 2015 and increase the number of foreign buyers visiting the Korea World Trade Center from 1.31 million to 3 million by 2017. We expect the Korea World Trade Center and its neighborhood in Samseong-dong will emerge as a must-visit tourist and cultural spot among foreign tourists. C-Festival will become the Edinburgh Festival of Korea."

The MICE industry is a new growth engine gaining global attention, as it converges tourism, trade, culture and hospitality. Seoul City designated the Korea World Trade Center as the "Gangnam MICE Special Tourism Zone" to activate the tourism and MICE industries of Seoul on December 18, 2014. COEX and Seoul City also cooperate to foster MICE business, which is the next-generation strategic business of Seoul, as well as the tourism industry.

sourced:traveldailynews.asia