THE meetings, incentives, conferences, and exhibitions (MICE) industry needs to be recognized as more than a subset of tourism because of its potential for making an outsized contribution to the recovering economy, exhibition venue operator World Trade Center Metro Manila (WTCMM) said.
The exhibition industry plays “a vital role in the economic recovery by providing a fast track for companies in the business-to-business space,” WTCMM Chair and Chief Executive Officer Pamela D. Pascual said in a statement on Thursday.
Ms. Pascual added that “our role in promoting international trade” involves “providing a venue for Filipino exporters to showcase Philippine world-class products… without them having to travel overseas.”
The WTCMM said that companies from China, Japan, Taiwan, and South Korea typically participate in Philippine trade shows.
“Long treated as a sub-sector of tourism, MICE has been drawing attention as a high value-added industry by itself. A MICE delegate spends as much as 6x per day compared to what an average leisure tourist spends,” the WTCMM said.
“Business events are made meaningful when they attract foreign participants, (helping) promote world-class products and brand awareness in select and preferred markets, giving buyers the opportunity to interact with sellers… On-site sales and bookings boost business and often benefit buyers with a host of concessions,” it added.
The WTCMM pushed for more large-scale suitable venues to meet surging demand from foreign markets.
The MICE industry is estimated to contribute between 0.004% and 0.87% to gross domestic product, according to a study conducted by the Philippine Association of Convention Exhibition Organizers and Suppliers, Inc.
The WTCMM is a member of the World Trade Centers Association based in New York, which has a global network of over 300 trade centers worldwide. — Revin Mikhael D. Ochave