MICE Management

MICE Definition:
M = Meetings A meeting is arranged by individuals or an organisation.

I = Incentive Travel A trip arranged by a company for an employee or individual as a reward for his or her satisfactory performance. As such it is a managerial motivational tool.

C = Conventions / Conferences A meeting of people in the same profession to exchange information. The term used is dependant on the country however the countries use the terms fluidly and are not confined to the use of one term only. Congress is used in USA, Convention in Asia and Conference in Europe and the Pacific. Generally the terms “Congress” and “Convention” indicate larger and more complex arrangements and numbers of participants than “Conference”.

E = (1) Exhibition / (2) Event (1) A show of goods and / or services for sale to target groups and interested persons and open to the public. There are two types of exhibitions: (2) An occasion where like minded people gather to participate in their combined interest. Often has an international involvement and often repeated annually, or within a 4 year time span. Generally large numbers are involved however a new event may commence with small numbers, growing as it’s popularity and reputation increase.

Questions:
1- why is MICE closely related to the tourism industry ?
2- What have been observed as the shortcomings in the meeting industry today ?
3- Why MICE visitors are considered to be "quality visitors" ?
4- What is PCO ?
5- What is DMO? What can a DMO provide as services for meeting planners and visitors ?
6- What should be a planner's concern for an outdoor event ?

Answers:

1- MICE closely related to the tourism industry because, it is a significant market segment for tourism and hosopitality industry in many destinations worldwide. And also part of the business tourism, more stable with arrangement booked well in advance. MICE foreign visitors spend higher than general visitors 3-4 times on average. MICE also help to promote the tourist attraction within the country, especaily create more jobs for the local people, and also revenue to the accomodation industry like hotel, restaurant, resort, spa and also help to inhance the destinations.

2- The shortcomings in the meeting industry today such as
* Limited market intelligence, lack of reliable statistics and regular research to provide a base of intelligence and information on trends and on the size and value of the industry.
* Non-standardized terminology, lake of an accepted and properly defined terminology such as business tourism (in Europe), business event (in Australia). "MEEC", "MICE" , "MC&IT". Also, Convention, Conference, Congress, and Meeting. And an on-line initiative : APEX by CIC to make further progress in standardizing and providing a common source for industry definitions.
* Underdeveloped educational framework : Formal training and educational courses are needed. For many of these working in the industry, it is a 2nd or 3rd career. They have come into conference work from other disciplines, e.g. hotel & catering, travel, sales & marketing, public administration.


3- MICE visitor are considered as a "qality visitors". Because, rely on similar infrastructure and support service. There are six major segments such as Lodging, F&B, Transportation, Attractions, Entertainment, and Shopping.


4- PCO is a Profesional Convention/Congress Organizer. is a focused and dedicated group of experienced managers who will deliver the best possible forum of international standards anywhere in the world, with emphasis on quality sales, marketing, and management.


5- DMO is a Destination Marketing Organizations, is a not-for-profit organization supported by government budget allocations private memberships, transient room taxes (in USA) or a combination of these three primary responsibility :
- To encourage groups to hold meetings. convensions and trade shows in the city or area if represents.
- To assist those groups with their meetings and meeting preparations.
- To encourge tourists to visit and enjoy the historic, cultural, and recreational oppornities and destination offers.

*The DMO can do for the meeting planners such as :
+ To encourage group to hold meetings in the city and assists groups with meeting preparations.
+ To provide promotional meterials to encourage attendance and establish room blocks.


6- The planner should concern about : the weather, the space, security, and the number of the participant for the outdoor events.