MICE stands for Meetings, Incentives, Conferences & Exhibitions. It is business tourism at its finest, aimed at bringing together top professionals from every sector in an enhanced, tailor-made hospitality setting.
The MICE industry refers to the business that involves organizing, conducting, and attending business and industry events. Other leisure events such as festivals or concerts belong to a different category, but organizers make use of leisure elements to engage attendees better.
Importance of MICE Tourism
Economic Boost:
MICE travelers often have higher daily expenditure rates than leisure tourists, spending on premium accommodations, dining, transportation, and other
related services. This influx can provide a substantial economic boost to the local community and businesses.
Off-Peak Tourism:
MICE events can be scheduled during a destination’s off-peak season, ensuring a more consistent flow of tourists throughout the year and stabilizing seasonal employment fluctuations in the tourism sector.
Infrastructure & Development:
The need to cater to MICE travelers can drive improvements in local infrastructure, including better transportation, world-class event venues, and upgraded hospitality services, which benefit not just MICE travelers but all visitors and locals.
Potential for Repeat Visits:
While MICE travelers visit primarily for business reasons, a positive experience can encourage them to return for leisure or even recommend the destination to their network, leading to increased future tourism.
Cultural Exchange & Networking:
MICE events bring together professionals from diverse backgrounds and cultures. This melding of perspectives can lead to fruitful exchanges, fostering international collaboration, and providing locals with an opportunity to interact with a global audience.
In essence, MICE travelers can be catalysts for growth, development, and international recognition for a destination.
Types of MICE Tourism
MICE tourism stands for Meetings, Incentives, Conferences, and Exhibitions. It’s a specialized niche of the tourism industry catering to the needs and goals of businesses and professional organizations. Here’s an overview of each component:
- Meetings: This aspect of MICE focuses on bringing people together in a formal setting to discuss and exchange information, often related to business or professional services. Meetings are usually smaller gatherings compared to conferences and can be held for training purposes, board meetings, or strategic planning sessions.
- Incentives: Incentive travel is used by businesses to motivate or reward employees for their exceptional performance. These are not standard business trips but are meant to inspire or reward employees in a more relaxed environment. Destinations are often exotic or prestigious locations to make the reward particularly appealing.
- Conferences: These are larger gatherings that focus on particular topics or industries and attract a wider set of attendees from across the globe. Conferences often feature multiple sessions about a variety of topics and include keynotes, panels, and workshops where information is shared and discussed.
- Exhibitions: Also known as expos, these events are typically held to showcase new products or services within a specific industry. Exhibitions provide businesses a platform to promote their offerings to potential clients and partners. They are often integrated with conferences to maximize networking and sales opportunities.
MICE tourism is considered a big revenue generator in the travel industry due to the high expenditure associated with business travel, the need for specialized accommodations, and the logistics required to manage such events.
The success of MICE tourism largely depends on the availability of appropriate facilities, such as conference centers, hotels, and other infrastructures. Additionally, the location’s accessibility, its business facilities, and leisure activities also play a crucial role in its appeal as a MICE destination.
Characteristics of MICE Traveler:
Purpose Driven:
MICE travelers have a primary objective for their trip, whether it’s attending a meeting, presenting at a conference, showcasing in an exhibition, or being part of an incentive trip.
Decision Influencer, Not Decider:
While they might have influence over aspects like venue selection or the event’s logistics, the destination choice is often decided by corporate teams, event organizers, or incentive program managers. Their travel locations may be determined by factors like event costs, logistics, or strategic partnerships.
Time-Bound:
Their trips are often of a fixed duration based on the event schedule, leaving them with limited free time to explore the destination.
High Expectations:
Given the professional nature of their trips, they anticipate high standards in accommodation, transportation, and other services.
Structured Itinerary:
Their travel schedules are usually pre-planned and closely aligned with the event’s agenda, which could include back-to-back meetings, conference sessions, or exhibition timelines.
Networking Focused:
One of their primary motivations, beyond the core event, is to network with peers, potential partners, or clients.
Limited Leisure Time:
While they might be eager to experience the destination’s local culture or attractions, their tight schedule often allows for only a few such experiences, making them prioritize the most authentic or significant ones.
Budget-Conscious (or not):
Depending on the nature of their trip, MICE travelers might have their expenses covered by their organization (leading them to choose more premium options) or might be self-funded (making them more budget-conscious). In incentive trips, luxury experiences are often the norm as they are meant to reward and
motivate.
What are the Key differences between Mice Travelers & Leisure Travelers?
Purpose of Visit
TOURISTS
Primarily leisure-driven. They travel to relax, explore, and enjoy a destination, often driven by personal interests and preferences.
MICE
Business or professional oriented. Their primary reason for travel is to attend a specific meeting, incentive trip, conference, or exhibition.
Duration & Itinerary
TOURISTS
Typically have a flexible itinerary, allowing spontaneous changes or
explorations based on personal interests or new discoveries.
MICE
Often have a structured and tight schedule tied to the event’s agenda. Free
time for leisure activities may be limited.
Decision-making on Destination
TOURISTS
They usually have complete autonomy in choosing their travel destination based on personal interests, recommendations, or research.
MICE
The choice of destination is often not in their hands but is determined by event organizers, corporate decisions, or incentive program coordinators.
Spending Patterns
TOURISTS
Spend across a range of categories, such as attractions, dining, souvenirs, and more, based on personal budgets and preferences.
MICE
Often have a higher daily spend, staying in upscale accommodations and
dining. Many expenses are often covered or reimbursed by organizers or employers.
Potential for Return
TOURISTS
If they enjoy the experience, they may return for future visits, either for leisure or to explore aspects of the destination they missed previously.
MICE
Even though their primary visit is business driven, a positive experience can motivate them to return as leisure tourists or recommend the destination to others.
Group Dynamics
TOURISTS
Can travel solo, with family, or in small groups of friends, making decisions based on the group’s shared interests.
MICE
Typically travel in large groups linked to their event, with group-centric plans for activities and accommodations.
Your clients
TOURISTS
Individual travelers, families, or small groups making independent decisions.
MICE
Corporate entities, event organizers, or incentive program coordinators handling arrangements for larger groups.
Their Motivation
TOURISTS
Primarily leisure-driven, seeking relaxation, exploration, and personal experiences.
MICE
Business or professional driven, focused on a specific event, but also open to added leisure experiences during their stay
Supply Chain
TOURISTS
Direct bookings, use of travel agencies, or online travel platforms; less structured and more fragmented.
MICE
Involvement of event management companies, corporate travel planners, and specialized MICE agencies; more structured and streamlined processes.
Products
TOURISTS
Seek diverse products like sightseeing tours, cultural experiences, souvenirs, and local attractions.
Understanding these distinctions can help MSMEs tailor their offerings more effectively for each audience.
PLANNING FOR MICE Tourism
Planning for MICE requires a lot of coordination, perhaps more than the tourism industry generally.
Although, planning for tourism also entails a lot of heads yet planning for MICE is more complicated.
Let us see what are the areas that would require a special set of planning as far as MICE is concerned.
Venues
In MICE on of the most important aspect is the venue of the meetings, conventions and exhibitions. A
large number of destinations do not get much of business that they want because they do not have that
kind of venues that are needed for MICE business. For holding international level of meetings,
conferences and exhibitions one has to seriously work on the type of venues that are available in the
destination. For planning MICE the industry should first consider the following:
- determining the number and cap acity of existing venues for meetings, conferences and
exhibitions; - determining the degree of use of these venues;
- establishing expected future demand for these venues;
- determining the adequacy of existing venues to meet this expected demand;
- outlining any serious design faults with existing venues.
Venues should also be properly designed so as to facilitate the guests and let them conduct their business with total concentration. For example, two conventions going on simultaneously should be well planned in a number of ways.
There should be proper spacing between the two conventions going on so as not to disturb the either. Due to lack of convention centres sometimes hotels and centres resort to thin partitions between two meetings, in the process disturbing both and maybe losing both the clients for good.
Transport
One of the main concerns identified by the industry is regarding transport. And this involves not only ground transport but also air transport. The main problem is related to insufficient and inconvenient airline timetables.
For example, in India most of international airlines arrive at either midnight or after
midnight which means that a business traveller has to either arrive a day before or at midnight to attend a meeting, exhibition or a conference. This is slightly inconvenient for this category of travellers because they are hard pressed for time and also want to arrive fresh for their work.
Since this is not possible, India lags behind in getting a good amount of MICE tourists. However, these problems are unlikely to be resolved because MICE market accounts for a very small share of the total airline business.
Furthermore the surface transport should also be according to the international
standards. This scenario is slightly problematic for the development of MICE.
Other aspects that need attention at the planning stage in this regard include selection of the type of coaches for road transport, trained drivers and escorts, etc. Generally, these services are contracted out to tourism transporters.
Accommodation
Since, MICE is not a seasonal business it has to be planned the entire year round. In this regard, accommodation becomes a very important criterion. MICE tourists usually prefer accommodation setups near their meeting/conference/exhibition venues. Further these accommodation units have to be equipped to handle their business requirements. In the sense they have to be able to meet the needs of
the guest.
Things like Fax machines, laptop provisions, internet connections, telex etc. need to be there for this kind of a guest. Further, the staff has to understand the requirements of these travellers.
Resorts and convention centres specializing in MICE infact provide special training to their staff for handling these business travellers and their equipment like beamers, projectors both movie and overhead, etc. Any Mega event requires years of planning and construction activity.
Other Support Services
There are a variety of services (catering, shopping, entertainment and others) that are also a constraint for the industry to develop and need to be planned to get the optimum benefit from emerging MICE scenario.
Again many developing countries are not totally equipped to give the best of facilities to the business travellers. Simple as pects like parking facilities, hoarding boards, mike and sound system all make for a successful meeting, convention and exhibitions/trade shows.
The industry has to learn and understand fast so as to develop a MICE destination. International MICE tourists can also be facilitated by giving them handy information about the climate, dress codes, language, tipping, behaviour etc.