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MEETINGS,INCENTIVES,CONFERENCES & EXHIBITIONS

INTRODUCTION TO MICE INDUSTRY

Events Management By Weru J N

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Introduction To Mice Industry

Throughout history, events have been an important feature of people’s lives. The first Olympic games were held in Ancient Greece in 777 BC and countless religious events and festivals have been held throughout the ages.

One can only speculate what procedures, problems and techniques event organizers of the time might have faced and used.


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Cont’dToday, events are central to our culture as

perhaps never before. Increases in leisure time and unrestricted spending have led to a proliferation of public events, cerebrations and entertainment.

Govts now support and promote events as part of their strategies for economic dvpt, nation building and destination management.


Cont’dCorporations and businesses embrace events

as key elements in their marketing strategies and image promotion.

The enthusiasm of community groups and individuals for their interests and passions gives rise to a marvelous array of events on almost every subject and theme imaginable.

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Cont’dThe event sector of the tourism industry is

young, dynamic, and growing and maturing at a rapid rate. The benefits event management and event tourism are increasingly being realized in many developing countries.

Events are becoming established as an integral and major part of tourism development and marketing strategies.


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Cont’dEvent tourism can be defined as systematic

development, planning, marketing and holding of events as tourist attractions.

The goals of event tourism are;To create a favorable image of the destinationTo expand the domestic touristic seasonTo spread tourist demand more evenly

through an areaTo attract foreign and domestic visitors



Definition of EventNo one clear, all-embracing definition of

events. According to APEX an event is an organized occasion such as a meeting, convention, exhibition, special event etc

According to Getz(2005:16), a principle applying to all events is that they are temporary and every event is unique due to the blend of management, program, setting and people.

Events are either cultural, sporting, political or business events


Cultural EventsThey are class of events which have historical

themes or which celebrate some dimension of a community’s or cultural group’s heritage.

Cultural or heritage events can be viewed as tools for interpreting community life by bringing people into direct contact with historical facts, objects or ways of life, thereby increasing knowledge and appreciation of traditions.


Sporting Events

Most types of sport today are organized and competitive, although some games are still played purely for recreation.


Arts Events

Are universal, and display considerable diversity in the forms and types of art featured.

Art events include; performing events such as music, dance and drama and visual events such as painting, sculpture and handcraft.


Business or Trade eventsBusiness event relates to MICE events. They

include conferences, exhibitions, incentive travel and other meetings.

Exhibitions(expositions). These are designed to bring together suppliers of products, equipment and services in an environment where they can demonstrate their products or services to invited audiences with objecting of obtaining a sale or informing the visitor


Cont’dTrade shows are exhibitions run exclusively

for a particular trade or industry and provide forums for exchange of information between companies and their potential clients-unlike exhibitions, trade shows are only open to members of the particular trade or industry and attendance is by invitation.


Cont’dMeetings: A meeting is defined as a get

together of a group of people with similar interests to accomplish some predetermined goal or purposes.

They include conferences, conventions, seminars, workshops and symposia.


Cont’dWhen meeting are focused on education the

terms seminar or workshops are used.Conference describes a group of people small

enough to facilitate interaction meeting for the purpose of discussion, fact-finding, problem solving and consultation.

Conventions are large assembles of people from associations, political parties or religious groups.


Cont’dSymposium or forum is a meeting at which

speakers or delegates present papers.Incentive meetings and travel are meeting

used as rewards for productivity achieved, or as motivational tools for employees to improve performance or encourage executives to reach certain goal.


The impacts of Mice EventsEvents do not take place in a vacuum-they

touch almost every aspect of our lives, whether the social, cultural, economic, environmental or political aspects.

The benefits arising from such positive connections are a large part of the reason for the popularity and support of events.

However, events can also have unintended consequences that can lead them to have


Cont’d public prominence and media attention for

wrong reasons. The cost of event failure can be disastrous , turning positive benefits into negative publicity, political embarrassment and costly lawsuits.

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Economic Impacts

Business and professional people travel throughout the year to attend meetings, conferences and exhibitions. The economic impact of these events is a major significance for the tourism and hospitality industry.

For example, most conference participants meet, eat and sleep under one roof-the venue.


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Cont’dHowever, the direct economic impact does not

Stop with the venue or suppliers such as local restaurants, cultural and sporting activities, sightseeing venues/tours, tourist attractions, local shops and transport facilities which either provide service or sell products to convention delegates.


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Cont’dThe direct and indirect effects of the delegate

expenditure is felt throughout the economy of the community, with flow-on expenditure to other firms such as food and beverage suppliers, printers, stationers and so on, from whom the delegate may items.

This can create an increased level of business and as a result provide additional employment.



Economic Benefits can be summarized as;It contributes to employment and income both

nationally and regionally.It increases a country’s foreign exchange

earnings.Helps to generate investment in tourism and

recreation infrastructure, thereby increasing the number of available attractions in an area for both local people and visitors.


Cont’dIt brings together leading national and inter’nal

specialists and practitioners in their fields at conventions and meetings. The drawings together of leaders in science, medicine, business and technology can strengthen a country’s professional expertise in that discipline.

It provides a facility for continuing education and training and forum for developing and maintaining professional contacts.


Political InitiativesDue to the valuable contributions of the MICE

industry to a country’s economy governments have undertaken a range of actions to promote the industry. These may include;

Providing sufficient level of infrastructure and accommodation to allow the growth of industry.

Attract investments in facilities such as purpose-built convention and exhibition centre's and hotels.


Cont’dProviding efficient and competitive transport

services.Facilitate visa arrangements for international

MICE visitors.Examine the effects of the taxation system on

the MICE industry.Increasing professionalism and service

standards and support industry cohesiveness.

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Environmental ImpactsThe trend internationally is to use

environmentally friendly practices with the events industry.

Programs have been put into place to manage the effect on the environment, including waste recycling, reducing the consumption of water, electricity and heat, water recycling and rationalization of air-conditioning and lighting.


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Cont’dTraditionally the conventions and meeting

industry ha s been a large consumer of paper and paper products in the form of printed conference materials, non-reusable convention and exhibition materials, disposable cups and plates, and so on.

Concerted efforts are being taken globally to adopt environmentally-responsible polices whereby such collateral materials are made with recyclable materials.


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Technological ImpactsThe industry has gladly accepted and

embraced new technology, and the impact has been felt not only in the area of the equipment used to present conference data and information, but also in the provision of different styles of conferences through the use of video conferencing facilities.



Cont’dAt operational level, the use of technology is

evident in the office management system of conference organizers, at convention and exhibition registration and within venue convention sales and service offices.

The days of the conference diary and traditional filing and paper trail systems have been replaced by industry specific and relevant on-line systems.

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