MICE

MICE. For the uninitiated, the word would evoke images of a nocturnal, four-legged pest. But for most corporate travelers and those in the tourism business who understand the importance of MICE tourism, the term conjures visions of business opportunities and events.

MICE tourism, the new buzzword in international tourism markets, is an acronym for Meetings, Incentives, Conferences/Conventions, and Exhibitions. It is a specific form of business tourism that relates to the activities of groups of business persons travelling for business purposes rather than individual business travelers and represents a multi-million dollar segment of tourism worldwide.

Meetings are events planned fairly in advance to bring business travelers together on a specific date for the purpose of exchanging information, either between people from one company or organization, or between people from different establishments. Some of the events that would comply with the World Trade Organization’s definition of ‘meeting’ include product launches, cocktail functions, breakfast, lunch and dinner meetings and special occasions such as weddings.

Incentives involve travel to foreign countries or domestic destinations as part of a motivational or incentive scheme to enhance or reward employee efforts. Mostly consumer goods, automobile and electronics companies use incentive travel, i.e. vacations with the family, to reward dealers and drive dealer sales.

Conferences or conventions are generally described as multi-day events attended by at least a hundred delegates for the purpose of exchanging business information. If 40% or more of the delegates come from outside the host country, the event would be termed as an international conference or convention. The difference between meetings and conferences lies in, both, the number of people attending and the duration of the event.

Exhibitions involve the drawing together of corporate leaders and business-minded people for the purposes of viewing products and services of different enterprises and business groups.