Mice tourism picking up

Lately meetings, incentives, conference and exhibition (MICE) tourism has seen an encouraging growth in the country also due to government's policy.
According to the budget for the current fiscal year 2009-10, an organiser of meeting, seminar, workshop or interaction programme inviting more than 100 foreign passport holders once at a time entering Nepal through air.
“If the company applies within seven days of completion of such programmes with evidence and relevant documents, it will be awarded Rs 500,000 cash incentives
A report of Pacific Asia Travel Association (PATA) Issues and Trends, revealed that Asia accounts for 16 per cent of total meetings worldwide. Asian destinations are increasingly seeking to attract MICE visitors as they spend between three and seven times the amount of leisure visitors, depending on which criteria one uses, said the Pacific Asia Travel Association (PATA) published 24-page analysis of the meetings, incentives, conference and exhibition (MICE) industry in Asia.
The report, entitled 'MICE Comes of Age in Asia Pacific', notes that despite the growth in international events, domestic meetings continue to represent the bulk of the MICE sector, representing 71.5 per cent of all events recorded by the International Association of Professional Congress Organisers in 2009. Similarly, domestic meetings grew by 227 per cent from 2006 to 2009, while international meetings increased by just 45 per cent over the same period.
"A robust MICE sector is a strong indicator of a sophisticated economy,” said PATA’s Strategic Intelligence Centre's John Koldowski. "Attracting top level international events requires the hardware of physical infrastructure, the software of people skills and a first-class service mentality."
The PATA report stated that must-have credentials to be a MICE destination include easy access by air, road or rail, at least one good quality congress centre, an adequate range of three- to five-star hotels, an attractive destination and surroundings, value for money, adequate marketing muscle, and a good range of local professional conference organisers.
Increasingly discerning MICE clients now also insist on flexible, fast and efficient service, a strong track record of success with previous events, excellent IT and telecoms, meaningful environmental policies, and smart marketing.
Some industries are more lucrative than others for MICE business. The report revealed that in China, the demand is growing fastest in the medical and pharmaceutical sectors followed by banks, financial services and insurance.
According to PATA, emerging fields in the international conference scene are likely to include businesses associated with the environment, security, fashion and design.
“Competing for top-end MICE business in Asia is a high-stakes game,” Koldowski said, adding that decision-makers who decide where to hold large conventions have a burden of responsibility for hundreds and sometimes thousands of association members. Sometimes a ‘guarantee’ from a government ministry can tip the balance in the destination’s favour."
PATA’s MICE report also looks at issues such as the role of subsidies, the impact of mega events in repositioning a destination’s reputation, upcoming Asian MICE destinations of the future, and the impact of economic slumps on the sector.