DAVAO CITY, Philippines — The holding of an international conference on meetings, incentives, conventions and events/exhibitions (MICE) in this flourishing city may just be all that’s needed to start off its rise as the sector’s hub in this part of the Philippines.
This assessment from Davao business leader and educator Joji Ilagan-Bian hinted at the wisdom behind the decision of the Tourism Promotions Board (TPB) to choose this city as the site of the MICE Conference (MICECON) 2013.
Bian said Davao’s hotel accommodation and tourism infrastructure capacity had significantly expanded since the city hosted the ASEAN Tourism Forum (ATF) jointly organized by the TPB and the city government in 2006.
“Almost seven years hence, now we have what it takes to rise as a MICE hub, especially since Davao is also widely regarded as the capital of Southern Philippines and the BIMP-EAGA (Brunei-Indonesia-Malaysia-Philippines East ASEAN Growth Area),†Bian said, as she hailed the TPB’s support for the city’s aspirations.
TPB chief operating officer Domingo Ramon Enerio III said targeting the MICE market is a logical move for a city that has become the melting pot of the South and an international retirement haven, attracting investments in various facilities that cater to a cosmopolitan urban center with expanding corporate needs.
“These developments in Davao City are factors we cannot ignore, presenting opportunities to gain a share of the $30-billion international MICE market that accounts for at least 50 million of the world’s annual tourism trips,†Enerio said, citing neighboring Singapore as raking in huge dollar receipts from MICE alone.
Eyeing the same international market, particularly North America and Europe and the emerging BRIC (Brazil-Russia-India-China) economies, Davao City will host the MICECON 2013 in its newly opened SMX Convention Center on March 6-9.
Participating in MICECON are international experts and delegates comprising meeting/event planners, destination management companies, incentive tour operators, hotels and resorts, airlines, convention and exhibition centers, national tourism organizations, local tourism offices, and industry association executives, among many others.
The experts will discuss global meeting trends, branding, technovations, and other topics on business and incentive travel, according to Stanie Soriano, officer-in-charge of the TPB MICE and Business Development Unit.
With the theme “iMICE2013. iGNITE. iNNOVATE. iNSPIRE. iNFUSE,†MICECON 2013 will discuss such topics as Imagining the Future of Travel; Tips, Tricks and Techniques for an Extraordinary Event Experience; Brand Strategy on a Tight Budget; Rise of Asian Brands; The War for Talent — Secret to Attracting, Motivating and Retaining the Best; MICE Technovations: Tomorrow’s Hottest Technologies Today; and Let’s Kill Murphy! Bullet-Proofing Meetings from Disasters and other Event Terrorists, Soriano said.
Other major MICECON activities are the MICE Marketplace and the MICE Mart, the former showcasing industry products and services, and the latter a one-day business-to-business (B2B) event for selected local sellers and international buyers.
MICECON 2013 is organized by the TPB, with the full support of the Davao City government, Davao Tourism Association, Davao Region Tourism Council, Association of Davao Event Organizers and Suppliers, Small Hotels Association of Davao, Davao Travel Agencies Association, Philippine Association of Convention/Exhibition Organizers and Suppliers, and Meetings, Incentive Travel, Events/Exhibitions Philippines Inc.
For more information on MICECON 2013, contact the Philippine M.I.C.E. Conference Organizing Committee at 525-6110 or 525-6635, fax at 521-6165, e-mail at miceregn@yahoo.com or cit.unit@gmail.com, go to Facebook at MICECON 2013 Davao or visit www.micecon.net.