Jordan Times
Wednesday, November 30, 2005
Kingdom promoted as MICE
destination at EIBTM 2005
By Dalya Dajani
AMMAN — The Kingdom's tourism authorities are
attending a leading business travel and meetings market, which opened in
Barcelona yesterday to help promote the country as a quality destination for
conferences.
The Global Meetings and Incentive Exhibition, or EIBTM 2005, is a key meeting
point for suppliers in the meetings and incentive markets and clients seeking
venues for their activities.
More than 6,000 trade visitors and 2,700 exhibiting companies are taking part in
the three-day event.
The participants include representatives of the airline industry, conference
venues, cruise lines, luxury trains, hotels, spas, conference planners,
incentive specialists, tourist organisations, technology providers, the media
and trade associations.
The EIBTM is an important venue for the Kingdom, which is still working on
building its capacity as a destination for Meetings, Incentives, Conferences and
Exhibitions (MICE).
Numerous workshops, seminars, conferences and forums are being held in the
country all year-round, most of them concentrated in upscale hotels in the
capital and convention centres.
These include the Zara Centre, the recently renovated Cultural Centre and the
new King Hussein Ben Talal Convention Centre in the Dead Sea where the World
Economic Forum was held earlier this year.
Tourism authorities have been working to enhance the revenue generated by this
sector over the past few months by expanding their MICE venues and improving
services and management of these activities.
Experts in the field regard Jordan as already having a head start in the MICE
market as it proved its capacity to hold numerous major forums over the years.
Efforts, however, are still needed to ensure quality services and keep pace with
the latest trends in the competitive MICE industry.
The Jordan Inbound Tour Operators Association (JITOA) recently launched a
special online directory providing potential clients and business travellers
with information on MICE venues in the country.
The directory is one of a few existing initiatives in the region, and considered
by JITOA as a crucial tool in helping the Kingdom penetrate the industry.
MICE activities are already flourishing in the European market and constitute a
major share of tourism revenue.
According to experts, MICE tourism is growing between 8 per cent to 10 per cent
each year and accounted for $90 billion of revenues generated by the
international tourism industry in 1997.
Jordan, considered a safe haven for tourists and businesses, took a blow earlier
this month, with terrorist bombings in three of the capital's hotels.
However, the impact on tourist travel and related businesses and investments
appeared minimal in the weeks following the blasts.
The Kingdom will face the needs of security as an additional factor when it
comes to developing its MICE industry.
A seminar on “Venue Security,” conducted by Eric Rymer from the Right Solution
on the first day of the EIBTM will tackle the importance of ensuring security
and how venues can best guarantee the safety of delegates.
EIBTM industry analyst Rob Davidson will also present its Industry Trends and
Market Share report at the event.
The report examines various aspects of the industry, such as challenges facing
venues around the world, as well as changes in market trends expected over the
coming few years.