The term “MICE” is becoming increasingly popular, even fashionable, in the Russian service sector. This abbreviation stands for Meetings, Incentive, Conferences, Events and refers to the business travel sector in a broader sense.
Main goals and objectives of MICE
Business trips are also called “business travel”, “business tourism” or the meetings industry (“meetings”). MICE covers individual business trips, conferences and congresses, seminars, corporate events, exhibitions, business meetings, and incentive tourism. Such activities can combine both a motivational-business and an entertainment nature.
Main goals of MICE:
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motivating employees to gain new experience, improve competitiveness and grow personally;
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establishing professional communication, making new acquaintances and useful contacts;
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training staff, as well as partners and clients;
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promoting the company, spreading information about the brand, its ideas and values among domestic and international audiences.
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Establishing professional communication |
In Russia, the MICE industry has only just begun to develop actively, so there are many nuances when it comes to organization. Nevertheless, it has become obvious that openness to adopting international experience in this area will benefit the tourism industry, business and the economy as a whole.
What awaits MICE this year? What trends and tendencies are sweeping the meetings industry? Let's discuss this in more detail.
Trends and tendencies
The constantly changing socio-economic situation in the country affects all areas of business, including the MICE industry. Budget cuts for business trips and competition keep only the best organizers afloat. But it is precisely these tough conditions that force event companies to strive for growth and improvement in order to remain competitive in the industry. Hence the main trends that make the business travel sector relevant and in demand:
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Focus on events that bring benefits. In an environment of total cost-cutting, including corporate expenses, super motivating business trips with visible benefits remain preferable. For example, training conferences, seminars, presentations, team building events with a high level of service. Such formats are used in their practice by large Russian companies, in particular “Gazprom Neft”.
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Focus on events that bring benefits |
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Enlivening a serious event with entertainment content. Entertainment is never out of place. Especially amid a tight work schedule and demanding workdays. Use creative formats, modern digital and multimedia capabilities for this: “smart” devices, interactive elements, virtual reality and other tools of the event industry. For example, a serious international economic business forum in St Petersburg this year was diversified with all kinds of interactive “features”, such as: a courier robot from “Sberbank”, a virtual tour of the history of the Crimean Bridge's construction, a unique modular screen from “Gazprom Neft” with artificial intelligence and incredible graphics.
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Enlivening a serious event with entertainment content |
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Automation and digitalization of processes. Many services have already switched to autonomous operation via computer and the internet. This significantly simplifies work (e.g., room booking, transport ordering, chatbots). For example, technologies are already being introduced to automatically track the mood of attendees by facial expression, their number, and movement. But there is another side to the coin – "dehumanization." Although a human cannot be replaced by artificial intelligence everywhere. That is why demand will grow for personnel capable of applying technical innovations and helping clients where a computer cannot cope.
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Improving service. In our country, there have always been gaps in this area compared to Western counterparts. Even Turkey often wins when choosing a venue for an event. Such conditions will lead to success only for those who can provide a high level of service and information and technical support. For example, the Swedish company "Oriflame" organizes conferences abroad for its best employees. In recent years, international events have been held in Spain, Egypt, Croatia, Thailand, Brazil, Italy, and other parts of the world. This year, the conference is planned at a five-star hotel in Turkey. At this event, new products are presented, business secrets are taught, and workshops on product use are held.
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Improving service. "Oriflame" conference |
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Unification and collaboration between government agencies and business. MICE is an area of state importance that can also generate high revenue from the events themselves. State support used to be insufficient, although the process has now been launched. Special agencies are being created at the federal and regional levels to facilitate the consolidation of efforts. For example, the conference "Smart Technologies for the City", organized by Kommersant Publishing House with the support of the Moscow Department of Information Technology.
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Unification and collaboration between government agencies and business |
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Leveraging the legacy and experience of the 2018 World Cup. This global celebration left behind developed modern infrastructure that should continue to be used. This applies not only to sports facilities and hotels but also to the experience of applying innovations in organization and security (Fan ID, e-visa to the Russian Federation, tourist police, etc.).
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Leveraging the legacy and experience of the 2018 World Cup |
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Creation of platforms called "smart cities". This is developed infrastructure tailored for the use of modern technologies and information services, the introduction of 5G, and artificial intelligence. For example, as part of the CitySDK project, a pilot application has been developed that reports in real time the influx of visitors at a particular attraction (museum or exhibition) and offers tourists alternative options.
Global and domestic experience
The first global MICE events were the annual IBTM and IMEX exhibitions. These largest industry-specific events have been held since the end of the last century on different continents and attract tens of thousands of participants – manufacturers, consumers, potential partners, and clients.
In addition to such large-scale events, many countries host international conferences, exhibitions, presentations, and other formats. For example, the M&I Forums network in various countries, ITB Business Travel Days as part of ITB Berlin Convention (Berlin).
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Annual IBTM and IMEX exhibitions |
In Russia, this industry also exists, bringing together major annual international meetings. For example, MITT (Moscow) – dedicated to travel and tourism, MICE Forum (Moscow) – business and incentive tourism, MICE workshop by ANTO, RFIV, and others.
The “All-Russian MICE Day” project, or MICE DAY, will increase the number of venues to 5 in 2019 – in different cities across Russia (Rostov-on-Don, Yekaterinburg, St. Petersburg, Moscow, Sochi). It brings together in one place professionals and newcomers, sellers and buyers, representatives of the Government and executive authorities, MICE agents and event companies. The global goal of the event is to promote the Russian market on the international stage by creating a so-called “MICE map of Russia’s regions.”
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All-Russian MICE Day |
The MICE industry worldwide is turning into a powerful business. That is why talent matters so much – creative, ambitious people who strive for growth and use modern digital technologies. Aventura event agency also strives to keep up with global trends. We organize business travel across Russia, including preparing and hosting business conferences and business tours of various scales.
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