20 int'l gurus head for Cebu to help boost MICE industry

MANILA, Philippines - At least 20 experts from all over the world, including several top Filipino corporate moguls, are coming over to Cebu as guest speakers in the forthcoming Philippine Meetings, Incentives, Conventions and Exhibitions/Events Conference (MICECON) to help boost this sector of the country’s tourism industry to its utmost potential.

The experts will share their knowledge and skills during the MICECON 2011 with some 350 participants from the MICE sector, which contributes a significant portion to the country’s foreign inbound tourism volume and domestic travel.

This important gathering, slated at the Cebu International Convention Center on Aug. 10 to 13, is further expected to boost the tourism industry, not only in Cebu province, but also in the entire Visayas and the rest of the archipelago, as it draws global attention to the country’s many potential venues and destinations for international meetings, incentive travel, conventions and exhibitions and events, including pre- and post-MICE tours.

“MICECON is a two-pronged strategy of promoting the Philippines as a global MICE destination while helping our industry embark on product development that suits international requirements and standards,” said Tourism Secretary Alberto Lim.

“MICECON 2011, therefore, is both a tourism marketing event and a strategic knowledge resource distribution program designed for the MICE sector and the rest of its supply chain,” he said.

“So while the focus is on the MICE sector, the benefits will redound to the entire tourism industry and all its members, and the rest of the economy,” he added.

MICECON is organized by the Department of Tourism (DOT) through its marketing arm, the Tourism Promotions Board, with the full support of Cebu province, the Philippine Association of Convention/Exhibition Organizers and Suppliers, the Hotel Resort and Restaurant Association of Cebu (HRRAC), and the Meetings, Incentive Travel, Events/Exhibitions (MITE) Philippines Inc.

HRRAC president and MICECON organizing committee chairman Hans Hauri placed the MICE market at a conservative 50 million constituents worldwide. 

Thus, while the country’s total yearly foreign visitor arrivals hover at only around 3.5 million, total tourism receipts run to about $5 billion, partly because of MICE.

So, too, are most of Singapore’s huge tourism revenues since that island state has a firm hold of this niche in the global marketplace.

Nonetheless, the Philippines’ share of the global MICE market is growing along with the increase in its high-end room accommodation capacity, convention facilities and other related physical infrastructure.

“But in order to become globally competitive, we have to match the other countries quality for quality, quantity for quantity, and value for value as dictated by the international market demand and anchored on our very own uniqueness in terms of culture, nature, infrastructure, and other highly saleable attributes,” Lim said.

“We could only arrive at the ideal product mix if we listened to the global experts whom we invited to MICECON and developed that level of market sensitivity that could make us at least one step ahead of the competition to be able to dictate the trends,” he said.

“In short, the government and the private sector must attain cohesiveness in the pursuit of that goal, and MICECON is a good venue to bring us all together in having that singularity of purpose in our actions,” he added.

MICECON 2011 — with the theme “I share. You connect. We change.” — emphasizes the need to adapt to an evolving global MICE market and its complexities.

For more information on MICECON 2011, contact the Philippine M.I.C.E. Conference Organizing Committee at 525-6110, 525-6635 or 525-9318, fax 521-6165, e-mail at micecon2011regn@yahoo.com or cit.unit@gmail.comor log on to www.micecon.net.