Mice Tourism

All in a meeting: Why the GCC is courting MICE visitors

- Dominic Ellis

GCC MICE is everywhere and yet, like electricity or traffic lights, something we take for granted despite powering everything along. We think of ‘MICE’ as one convenient entity but the meetings, incentives, conferences and exhibitions industry is vast and produces economic benefits far beyond the conference halls and meeting rooms.

Take the recent Gitex Technology Week. Dubai World Trade Centre (DWTC) reported that it generated Dhs1.6bn across direct and indirect channels, and event-related spend covering space rental, stand building and attendees’ business spend totalled Dhs391m. A third of visitors (57,367) came from abroad, staying on average for around six days, and in all there were 4,500 exhibiting companies.

In a digitally oriented and environmentally conscious world, where forums debate if there is a place for business travel and trade shows, Gitex provides a resounding answer – and consider those figures in the context that it’s one event in the year-round calendar. For the UAE and other GCC countries, the MICE space is only growing in importance as they strive to be global centres for innovation, knowledge creation and data sharing, and economic diversification remains a universal goal.

Alongside established events, opportunities lie in the novel and unexplored, exemplified by Emirates’ recent hosting of the International Air Transport Association (IATA) inaugural Global Accessibility Symposium. The Dubai carrier continues to expand its global network, starting flights to Mexico City via Barcelona on December 9 – which will bring new MICE and leisure traffic to the UAE

Dubai beckons