Korea’s Incheon CVB Achieves International Green Meeting Certification

January 25, 2016

The Incheon Convention & Visitors Bureau, located in Incheon, South Korea, has become the latest convention and visitors bureau to be certified to an international sustainability standard for the meetings and event industry.

The Incheon CVB achieved certification to the ASTM Standard pertaining to the Evaluation and Selection of Destinations for Environmentally Sustainable Meetings, Events, Trade Shows and Conferences.

The Destinations standard is one of the nine standards developed by the meetings, conventions, exhibitions and events industry to provide event planners and suppliers around the world with specifications for producing events in a more sustainable manner.

Yoo Jeong-bok, mayor of Incheon Metropolitan City, said, “We are excited to be the first destination in Asia to attain ASTM Destination certification. All of us who are working to make Incheon a choice destination for conventions and exhibitions applaud this achievement and congratulate the Incheon CVB team.”

The ASTM Destinations Standard delineates the procedural requirements for destination selection - the practice of researching, evaluating and choosing the location for an event.

The standard specifies specific performance criteria for staff management, communications, waste management, energy, air quality, water, procurement, and community partners.

The standards were created in partnership with ASTM International, an ANSI-accredited standards development organization.

Roger Simons, president GMIC (Green Meeting and Industry Council), the non-profit professional meetings association that led the development of the ASTM Sustainable Meeting Standards, added, “Hearty congratulations to the Incheon Convention & Visitors Bureau on their successful certification to APEX/ASTM and their continuing commitment to environmental stewardship. Certification is a solid indicator that Incheon is a leader in sustainable business for our industry."

iCompli, a division of BPA Worldwide, a non-profit international auditing organization headquartered in Shelton, Connecticut developed the certification protocols for the ASTM standards and performed the independent third-party certification of the Incheon Convention & Visitors Bureau’s compliance with the Destinations standard.

Glenn Hansen, CEO of BPA Worldwide, said, "Certification to the industry’s green meeting standards continues to gain traction. We are delighted to be part of this important effort to improve the sustainability of the event industry.”

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