On The Agenda

MICE planners discover new and exciting event destinations.

- Holly Riddle

IN 2019 A MICE PLANNER’S JOB consists of more than just finding an easily accessible, satisfactory event venue within budget. More than ever, meetings and events are experienced, and travelers’ desire for the new, exciting and undiscovered challenges MICE planners’ creativity. As such, the unprecedented up-and-coming MICE destinations across the globe tap into just that — the new and exciting.

Each year, event and hospitality software provider Cvent compiles data on the top meeting destinations worldwide. Chris McAndrews, vice president of marketing, Cvent Hospitality Cloud, noted the implications of last year’s data: “You certainly see the usual suspects at the top of the list. In the United States, for example, you see Orlando and Las Vegas. One interesting thing you see, and no negative connotation intended, is what you might say are second-tier cities rising up the list … .”

McAndrews isn’t alone in this observation. Catherine Chaulet, president, Global DMC Partners, said something similar. Through her work, she finds MICE planners gravitate toward destinations that provide a combination of safety, affordability, and uniqueness, meaning destinations that are somewhat smaller than those preferred in the past. Even when an event is held in a destination already popular with the MICE market — Paris, London, New York City, Orlando, Chicago — planners look for new experiences or neighborhoods within those destinations.

“[MICE planners] are really eager for their audience and members to discover new parts or unknown parts of those cities,” Chaulet commented.

As what MICE planners are looking for evolves and, as McAndrews pointed out, more attention is paid to small meetings versus only large events, new MICE destinations have the opportunity to gain traction.