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March 31, 2015

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Home » City specials » Hangzhou

MICE insiders embrace changing industry

By Xu Wenwen | March 31, 2015, Tuesday | Print Edition

THE hotel industry is changing and looking for new sources of revenue in the wake of the central government’s crackdown on lavish and unnecessary spending by public officials, experts said at the China Conference, Meeting and Incentive Travel Forum recently in Hangzhou.

The forum attracted almost 100 experts and representatives from the MICE (meeting, incentive, convention and exhibition) industry.

“While the scale of MICE in China continues to grow, the industrial structure and development pattern are changing,” said Yuan Zaiqing, president of the China Convention, Exhibition and Event Society.

He said the use of technology and being eco-friendly are big trends and that the government is shifting itself from a MICE customer to an instructor and supporter.

The amount of business from various levels of government has largely declined since the central government called for frugality two years ago.

In 2013, the largest three MICE spenders were government, foreign-owned companies and state-owned enterprises. The top three last year were foreign-owned companies, state-owned businesses and private enterprises, officials said at the forum.

“Before 2013 just hotels focused on grabbing more orders, but now they are exploring their own features,” said Eugene Lin, general manager of the MICE department of Shanghai Jin Jiang Tours, adding last year the agency’s MICE sales increased 20 percent while profit from the sector rose 10 percent year on year.

Yuan said growth in the industry has slowed from double digits to single digit within the past two years.

“The main driver of stable growth today is stronger domestic consumption and the fact that the service industry has outgrown the agricultural and manufacturing industries,” Yuan said.

According to the China National Tourism Administration, China is already the largest outbound tourism spending country in the world and the fourth largest inbound tourism country.

HelmsBriscoe, a leading agency for global site selection for businesses, came to China with the perception that “China’s inbound market is far from saturated,” said the company’s Ivanka Xu.

While Kevin Kirby, chairman of the board for Meeting Professionals International, said, media reported that the number of meetings will rise 2.1 percent in the Asia Pacific region this year.

Noticing that major hotel brands are building more properties in China, Kirby said educating and training more people for the industry is important.

But there is a lot of work to promote China’s MICE industry, insiders said.

“The inbound market of China is not well developed compared to outbound tourism,” said Yao Hong, global board director of the Society for Incentive Travel Excellence.

“China’s MICE industry is a decade behind,” said Albert Cao, vice president of Across China, a brand and event communications consultancy. “We need a series of regulations from the government.”

Yao agrees.

“The government needs to set up a MICE department with highly trained professionals to create favorable visa and tax-refund policies,” Yao said.

Ivanka Xu suggests the authorities study what countries like Singapore and Vietnam are doing to attract MICE events.

Hangzhou remains somewhat of a newcomer to the MICE industry, but will host the G20 Summit next year.

Hangzhou Tourism Commission Vice Director Zhao Hongzhong said: “Hangzhou has been acknowledged as a MICE destination in Asia due to its landscape and because its facilities are capable of hosting top-level international meetings.”

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