Macau’s MICE industry sees new ‘dawn of development’

The so-called MICE (Meetings, Incentives, Conventions and Exhibitions) sector is pushing the further development of Macau’s tourism and other service industries, the president of the Macau Convention and Exhibition Association (MCEA),  Jin Zhongyun, told The Macau Post Daily in a recent interview, adding that Macau’s MICE industry was, in fact, seeing a “new dawn of its development.”

The Macau International Trade and Investment Fair (MIF) has been coordinated by MCEA since 2003 and it will be the fourth time for the MCEA to coordinate the upcoming 11^th MIF.

Speaking to the media in his office at the Nam Kwong Building, Mr. Jin said that since the MIF had been admitted recognized by the Global Exhibition Industry Association (UFI) as “an approved event” last year, the status and “visibility” of Macau in the international business field of conventions and exhibitions had been on the rise, adding that since then Macau had further strengthened its ties with MICE industry organizations elsewhere.

UFI is an association of the world's leading tradeshow organizers and fairground owners, as well as the world’s major national and international associations of the MICE industry, and its business partners.

Earlier this year, the Macau Trade and Investment Promotion Institute (IPIM) gathered several local convention and exhibition companies to visit Germany for a fact-finding mission and “one-on-one” exchanges with a string of world-famous german convention and exhibition groups, Mr. Jin said, adding the trip was meant to “acquire more experience and discover our short-comings.”

According to Mr. Jin, IPIM and MCEA have jointly invited experts from the China International Centre for Exhibition Research (CICER) and the Hong Kong Asia-Pacific Research Centre for Exhibition to conduct research on Macau’s convention and exhibition industry. The result of the report will be released during the 11^th MIF. “Macau’s convention and exhibition industry is still in its infancy. I hope Macau will get sufficient guidance and suggestions from the report,” Mr. Jin said.

Mr. Jin stressed that the MICE sector was “just one part of the big chain” of the local tourism industry, adding that the sector’s further development would promote business travel and generate growth in the transport and service industries. “To some extent, I think the convention and exhibition industry will contribute more to Macau than the gaming industry in the future, since trade fairs will stimulate consumption in Macau by attracting a large number of high-educated business travelers.”

Venetian Cotai project

Mr. Jin emphasized that the Macau government was paying close attention to the development of the MICE sector, pointing out that the government signed an agreement with the Las Vegas Sands (LVS) prior to the approval of its Venetian project in Cotai in order to commit the American company to the construction of a 100,000-square-metre convention hall that could be regarded as the “mainstay” for the local development of the MICE sector in terms of hardware.

Mr. Jin said that several international companies had already decided to hold exhibitions at the Venetian’s mega-convention complex in Cotai, which is scheduled to open next year, including a number of mainland exhibition companies, such as China International Exhibition Centre Group Corporation (CIEC) and the China Small Commodities City Exhibition in Yiwu, Zhejiang Province. “I believe Macau will become a city of conventions and exhibitions in the next three to five years. Macau can expect to have a promising future in the convention and exhibition field,” Mr. Jin said.

According to Mr. Jin, there are three important factors for the development of the MICE industry: hardware and software conditions, well-known participants and exhibitors, as well as sufficient human resources. “We should open our doors to attract talents from all over the world,” Mr. Jin said.

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