Infrastructure investments in the regional meetings industry are crucial for growth, according to an industry specialist.
Rob Nicholas, Director at Dubai-based Nicholas Publishing International (NPI), which produces nine meetings industry publications, says that although the Middle East is hosting an increasing number of meetings and conferences, the region still has a long way to go in terms of attracting major association meetings.
“Major rotational meetings are an entity in themselves, and represent a highly untapped segment for the Middle East. This is primarily due to the absence of dedicated convention bureaus in many regional destinations to spearhead efforts to attract them, as well as the lack of professional congress organisers,” says Nicholas. “The lack of medium-tier accommodation is also detrimental to efforts to attract associations as budgets are often tight and don’t stretch to five-star hotels.
“If you talk to leading industry figures such as Roger Tondeur, President of MCI, you’ll be told that association meetings account for up 40 percent of the global meetings industry (often referred to as MICE), yet it is almost non-existent in the region so far.”
At Arabian Travel Market – the region’s premier travel and tourism exhibition to be held in Dubai, United Arab Emirates this May – Nicholas will chair a panel discussion dedicated to understanding the Middle East’s meetings industry and breaking down the acronym ‘MICE’ into its distinct components.
“MICE is a term not commonly used in most parts of the world. In the Middle East, it is often used as a wholesale term to cover everything from a meeting for five people to a concert or wedding. This creates a skewed picture of what destinations are achieving in increasing the contribution of the meetings industry,” added Nicholas, who has been tracking the industry for more than six years.
“The discussion aims to provide a thorough and complete understanding of the MICE acronym - discussing each sector separately - and how it will augment regional tourism development currently estimated to be worth US$1 trillion,” he said.
Joining Nicholas in the panel discussion will be Roger Tondeur, President and founder of MCI. As well as developing MCI into the foremost global association, communications and event management group, Tondeur’s achievements also include being past-president of SITE – the Society of Incentive Travel Executives.
Debbie Stanford-Kristiansen, Director of MICE at Bahrain Exhibition and Convention Authority – formerly with IMEX and EIBTM – and Paul Vincent, Sales and Marketing Director of Abu Dhabi National Exhibition Company (ADNEC) will also provide the venue perspective bringing in experiences from leading exhibition centres from across the world, commenting on the regional development currently taking place and the opportunities they present.
“Arabian Travel Market is the largest industry event where we can highlight the regional meetings industry. Dubai already is an established event venue and Abu Dhabi is fast becoming a leading destination for niche tourism sectors, from luxury leisure travel through to meetings and incentives,” said Nicholas.
“Combined with Qatar’s new US$15 billion tourism initiative, Saudi Arabia’s master-planned communities, Bahrain developing facilities and services to niche sectors, including meetings and business tourism, and Oman catering to the aspirations of incentive organisers, we will outline the huge potential for the GCC’s meetings industry.”
The seminar will also tackle real-world problems plaguing the industry and discuss practical ways of overcoming them.
‘Meeting the region’s challenges’ is part of an educational free-to-attend seminar programme planned by Arabian Travel Market organisers Reed Travel Exhibitions (RTE) as part of its expanded trade visitor show experience.
Arabian Travel Market 2007 will be held at the Dubai International Convention and Exhibition Centre, United Arab Emirates from May 1-4.
“Through our seminar programme we are partnering the industry to provide delegates an educational forum and tackle topics which have global and regional relevance,” said Mark Walsh, Group Exhibition Director, RTE.
“The development of the GCC’s Meetings sector is important to sustain sector growth and ensure that the 55,000 hotels rooms which will be added to the UAE alone in the next five years will enjoy sustainable high occupancy rates.”
Reed Exhibitions (RX) is the world’s leading organiser of exhibitions and conferences. RX brings together over 90,000 suppliers and more than 5.5 million buyers from around the world every year generating billions of dollars in business. Today Reed events are held in 38 countries throughout the Americas, Europe, the Middle East and Asia Pacific, and organised by 33 fully staffed offices.
Reed’s portfolio of over 460 events serves 52 industry sectors, including:
aerospace and defense, building and construction, design, electronics, energy, oil and gas, entertainment, food and hospitality, gifts, healthcare, IT/telecoms, jewellery, manufacturing, marketing and business services, pharmaceuticals, property, publishing, sport and recreation, transport and logistics and travel.
Working closely with professional bodies, trade associations and government departments Reed ensures that each and every event is targeted and relevant to industry needs. As a result, many Reed events are market leaders in their field.
RX is part of Reed Elsevier, a FTSE 100 company and world-leading publisher and information provider, with revenues in excess of £4.8 billion (US$ 8.4 billion) (2004).
Reed Travel Exhibitions organise 17 events worldwide, including World Travel Market, Arabian Travel Market, C.I.S. Travel Market, EIBTM, British Travel Trade Fair, Asia Pacific Incentives & Meetings Expo (AIME), International Golf Travel Market, Top Resa, Mediterranean Travel Fair, ICCA Exhibition, in association with the ICCA Congress, International Luxury Travel Market (ILTM), La Cumbre, City Break, China Incentive, Business Travel & Meetings Exhibition (CIBTM), Latin American & Caribbean Incentive & Meetings Exhibition (LACIME), Gulf Incentive Business Travel & Meetings (GIBTM) and Asia Luxury Travel Market (ALTM).
For further press information, please visit the Reed Travel Exhibitions' website on www.reedtravelexhibitions.com
