What is MICE, Business Tourism or Business Events: A Guide

MICE tourism has been picking up popularity because of the multiple advantages that it offers. It promotes professional development, and economic growth, and creates memories for a lifetime. It is a form of corporate travel that lets individuals travel to various destinations to attend business or academic gatherings.

Some of the companies organise their corporate trips on their own. While others take the help of an in-house travel management team. Most businesses prefer reaching out to travel agencies that specialise in MICE Tourism.

These agencies help companies organise corporate tours and take care of transport, stays, visas, insurance, and more.

MICE tours hold an important place in the corporate ecosystem. It’s because physical presence has always been an important pillar for building networks, learning new skills, and striking negotiations. The participants also get a chance to immerse themselves in new experiences at an exciting destination. 

1. What Does MICE Mean?

MICE is a term used for Meetings, Incentives, Conferences, and Events/Exhibitions in the corporate tourism industry. It usually includes scheduling and carrying out corporate gatherings that range from small conferences and meetings to huge exhibitions and incentive vacation schemes.

2. What Are The Components of MICE?

MICE tourism is made up of 4 core elements – Meetings, Incentives, Conferences, and Events/Exhibitions. Unlike the common perception, it goes beyond organising events, it primarily provides a platform for businesses to form meaningful connections and share insights.

Here’s the best part, all that happens while being part of unique experiences at an exciting destination. Let’s take a quick look into what each element stands for:

1. Meetings: Meetings offer an opportunity for professionals to talk about various issues, and share insights. These could be held on an internal basis (among the organisation) or externally (among different organisations/industries). Meetings could be of different types:

• Team Meetings: These may involve different departments within an organisation who plan to share updates or engage in problem-solving sessions.
• Board Meetings: These include leading executives or board members who gather to discuss financial strategies or growth plans. 
• Sector-specific Meetings: The meetings involve multiple experts from a particular industry. For example, academic meetings, medical congress, etc.)

2. Sales Meetings: In such meetings, Sales teams usually discuss customer feedback, and review targets, or sales strategies.

3. Incentives: Incentive tours are usually given out as rewards to employees for achieving their targets. These are used to boost morale, strengthen loyalty, and motivate staff members. For example, Channel Partner Incentives, Sales incentives, and more.

4. Conferences: These are events that focus on networking, learning, or networking for a group of professionals. Conferences usually include workshops, presentations, panel discussions, and more. For example, TED Talks.

5. Events/Exhibitions: Such kinds of events or exhibitions are held to feature the products or services of a business to its potential customers. Consumer Expos, Art and Culture Events, and Trade shows are a few common examples of exhibitions.

3. What Are The Advantages of MICE Tourism?

MICE Tourism offers a variety of advantages for businesses, individuals, as well as destinations. It also helps in the growth of the economy in many ways. Here is a list of the advantages and benefits of MICE tours:

• Networking and Knowledge Sharing: The conferences held via MICE Tourism help in fostering the exchange of knowledge across different industry verticals. Many experts enjoy being a part of workshops, panel discussions, and sessions. It also offers an opportunity for professionals to get into partnerships and collaborations. 

• Contributes to the Economy: MICE tourism is a crucial contributor to the local economy of any destination. The participants provide support to the local economies through their expenditure on various components of the tour, like stays, meals, and transportation.

• Creates Unforgettable Experiences: More than anything else, MICE tours create lasting memories for all its participants. It combines the best of two different worlds – business and travel experiences. It is very popular among businesses for conducting team-building activities.

• Promotes Technology: Since most of the events and exhibitions held nowadays are digitally enabled, they feature the latest advancements in technology. That being said, it is known to be a great platform to showcase the latest innovations in the business world.

• Lifts up local businesses: It’s one of the direct contributors to the earnings of the local businesses of a destination. This is achieved when the client spends beyond the event, on transportation, accommodation, meals, entertainment, and other event-related requirements.

• Boosts Average Spending: It triggers a push in the local supply chain, which benefits shops, restaurants, and various other businesses. This, in turn, helps in the creation of job opportunities across various sectors in the town.

• Helps in Off-Peak Tourist Experience Management: As we all know, many destinations find it difficult to maintain good tourist footfall during the waning season. MICE tourism helps in promoting tourism through the corporate events that it organises. This ensures that a good balance is maintained in the demands of tourism in general.

• Promotes the Destination: Promotion of the destination is another advantage of MICE tours. It helps in putting a particular destination in the spotlight. That being said, it creates an overall positive shift in the tourism industry.

4. Latest Trends In The MICE Industry

The latest trends in the MICE industry are important from a growth perspective. They allow us to dive deeper into the transformations happening across various sectors. Here are a few trends in the MICE Tourism industry that are being talked about globally:

• Social Responsibility and Sustainability : The industry is now observing a shift in the perception of the participants. They are now more focused on events and conferences that comply with eco-friendly policies, waste reduction, and green venues. The goals of MICE tourism have gone beyond organising events, towards a sustainable future.

• Personalization with Technology: Recent developments in Data Analytics and AI have made a huge contribution to the personalization of events. Businesses can now reach out to travel agencies and customise their MICE packages according to their specific needs.

• Promotion of Diversity: Thanks to the power of social media, many issues of global importance are now being highlighted through various conferences. It is expected that the panels and participants will now better encourage diversity at an organisational level.

• Focus towards Wellness: Modern conferences and events are no longer just business-centric. They’re also about promoting a healthy lifestyle and fitness. Many venues nowadays also offer yoga spaces, wellness facilities, and more.

• Digitization of Processes: Gone are the times when people used to hand out paper flyers. With the recent developments in technology, participants can simply check in using their smartphones or tablets. They can also enjoy the access to various documents related to the event online.

• Hybrid Models: Tech-enabled conferences have now started combining the in-person and digital presence of the attendees. Participants can now join remotely from their laptops or phones and be in the event with those present physically.

• Quality over Quantity: MICE tourism has now started witnessing demands for events that prefer quality over quantity. Businesses are choosing to host events with a lesser number of participants. That means the participants get a chance to engage with each other in a better way.

Conclusion

MICE Tourism is a constantly growing sector in the tourism industry. Many businesses, local and global, have started holding events through companies that specialise in MICE tours. It is considered to be one of the best ways to network, rewarding employees, and client relationship building. It can also be used to showcase the products and service offerings of a business.

Planning and strategizing for a great MICE exhibition or event may need a lot of time. Most of the time, corporate clients demand specific locations with top-class amenities and exciting activities for their participants. Such meetings and conferences also help in boosting the overall confidence of the employees, making it a win-win for everybody.

So, whether it’s a small company or a big enterprise, the importance of a premium MICE event stays the same. It’s a much-needed investment for many businesses. In the years that follow, it’s forecasted that the only way MICE Tourism is going to go – is Forward.