With many advantages, conference, seminar and event tourism (MICE) is a type and strong product of the Southeast - the dynamic economic region of the country.
The tourism system planning for the 2021-2030 period, with a vision to 2045, recently approved by the Prime Minister, identifies one of the orientations as developing new types of tourism that are suitable for market trends.
These are types of tourism combining medical treatment, health care and aesthetics; agricultural and rural tourism; sports tourism, adventure sports; conference, seminar and event tourism (MICE); educational tourism; cruise tourism; industrial tourism.
According to the plan, one of the six tourist regions of the country is the Southeast, which prioritizes the development of typical products such as MICE tourism, urban tourism associated with cultural industry and night-time economy, and sea and island resort tourism.
Affirming strengths
With many advantages, conference, seminar and event tourism (MICE) is a type and strong product of the Southeast - the dynamic economic region of the country.
According to the Ho Chi Minh City Department of Tourism, the City, as a core urban area, a regional growth pole, has an increasingly synchronous infrastructure system, especially a connected transportation system, diverse accommodation facilities, and abundant tourist attractions, and is chosen by many tourist groups for conferences, seminars, and events.
In early 2024, within the framework of the World MICE Tourism Awards, Ho Chi Minh City was honored for the fourth time as "Asia's Leading MICE Destination", contributing to the goal of making the city a leading vibrant destination in Asia.
Deputy Director of Ho Chi Minh City Department of Tourism Bui Thi Ngoc Hieu said MICE tourism is one of the city's strategic products.
This place has a transportation infrastructure and facilities of sufficient size to organize conferences, fairs, and MICE tours for thousands of people.
To date, the entire city has nearly 3,230 tourist accommodation establishments; of which nearly 200 hotels have been ranked from 1 to 5 stars, ready to serve groups of guests in different segments.
In the first 7 months of 2024, revenue from travel services in Ho Chi Minh City is estimated at VND 23,853 billion, an increase of nearly 66% over the same period in 2023; revenue from accommodation and food and beverage services is VND 74,888 billion, an increase of 8.7% over the same period in 2023. This result is contributed by many tourist groups in the MICE tourism sector.
A representative of Saigontourist Travel Service Company said that the MICE tourism products built by the business to serve tourists always have connections and reasonable calculations from choosing event venues to accommodation, scenarios, teambuilding programs, and suitable gala dinners.
Since the beginning of 2024, the company has served over 450 MICE groups, including groups of 600-700 people.
MICE tourism is also one of the 8 product groups that Ba Ria-Vung Tau is promoting to develop, mainly concentrated in Vung Tau city, Xuyen Moc district... with many modern complex resorts, high-class tourist areas, accommodating thousands of people.
The province currently has 1,360 accommodation establishments with over 22,500 rooms; of which 76 hotels are rated from 1-5 stars, ensuring to meet the needs of many types of tourists at the same time.
Vice Chairwoman of Vung Tau City People's Committee Nguyen Thi Thu Huong said that recently, the city has been chosen to host many major events and welcome many MICE delegations.
Vung Tau stands out with beautiful beaches such as Front Beach, Back Beach, Dau Beach, Pineapple Beach, the road hugs the coast winding around the mountainside, passing through many famous relics and landscapes, convenient for tourists to visit and experience in one trip.
Vung Tau has been honored many times as an ASEAN Clean Tourist City within the framework of the Southeast Asia Tourism Forum.
The infrastructure and facilities serving tourism in this coastal city are increasingly improved, in line with the development orientation to turn Vung Tau into a high-quality, international-class tourism center.
Typical tourism products are resort tourism; MICE; cultural and ecological tourism, attracting about 6.5 million domestic and foreign tourists each year.
Specific solutions
Mr. Ha Van Sieu, Deputy Director of the Vietnam National Administration of Tourism, informed that the World Tourism Organization forecasts that by 2025, the world's MICE tourism revenue will reach more than 1,400 billion USD; of which the majority will be concentrated in the Europe and Asia-Pacific regions.
Along with that, in the post-COVID-19 recovery period, many organizations and businesses have increased the organization of summary and reward conferences or sought partners and investment opportunities, combined with sightseeing and entertainment.
This is a great potential for developing MICE tourism in Vietnam - a destination with advantages of many natural landscapes, cultural heritages, infrastructure and facilities serving tourism development, and increasingly perfect services.
However, managers and experts also note that developing MICE tourism requires specific solutions, connecting many types of tourism and perfect services.
Each locality needs to clearly identify its strengths and ability to attract visitors in order to make "worthy" investments, avoiding waste or inadequate infrastructure and facilities to serve tourist groups traveling for conferences, seminars, and events.
The Southeast has the advantage of being a region with convenient domestic and international connections by many modes of transportation. This is the contiguous region and the bridge between the Mekong Delta, the Central Highlands and the South Central Coast.
The region has a warm climate all year round, few natural disasters, favorable for the stable development of many economic sectors; including tourism and services. The Southeast also has marine and island tourism resources, eco-tourism, many historical and cultural relics, commercial centers... very suitable for developing MICE tourism.
A representative of the Ho Chi Minh City Department of Tourism said that the City continues to facilitate and encourage travel businesses and accommodation units to provide services to join hands in developing MICE tourism.
The tourism industry, together with localities and businesses, should strengthen training and improve the qualifications of human resources in travel and accommodation businesses, and improve skills in organizing activities related to MICE tourism; ensuring that there are always attractive tourism programs suitable for each group of guests with different psychology, tastes and requirements.
According to Vice Chairman of the People's Committee of Ba Ria-Vung Tau province Le Ngoc Khanh, the province has implemented many solutions to develop its strong tourism types and products, including MICE tourism.
The locality builds and maintains a tourism brand of national and international stature, affirming its position as a destination and attracting potential visitors. At the same time, the province hosts many national and international programs and events; considering this an opportunity to promote and attract tourists, especially MICE tourist groups.
Functional units research and propose unique products; annually organize events such as: Sea - Island Festival, tourism festival, international cuisine, sound - light festival, international Marathon.
Binh Duong also belongs to the Southeast economic quadrangle (including Ho Chi Minh City, Binh Duong, Dong Nai, Ba Ria-Vung Tau).
Delegations of experts and investors coming to explore cooperation opportunities, attend exhibitions and seminars combined with tourism, sightseeing, and experiencing high-end sports activities are the "source of customers" for Binh Duong to develop MICE tourism.
Binh Duong Province Tourism Promotion Center has completed and introduced to tourists the publication "Binh Duong MICE Tourism Handbook."
Along with that, the locality has tourist and relaxation destinations with quite close distances to event locations, suitable for MICE guests to combine such as Dai Nam tourist area, Phu My golf course, Lai Thieu fruit garden, Tuong Binh Hiep lacquer craft village, Phu An bamboo village.
Binh Duong tourism promotes cooperation, product connection, tours, and routes with provinces and cities in the Southeast and the Central Highlands. Among them, focusing on routes Ho Chi Minh City-Binh Duong-Binh Phuoc; Ho Chi Minh City-Binh Duong-Tay Ninh; Ho Chi Minh City-Binh Duong-Dong Nai; Ho Chi Minh City-Binh Duong-Tay Nguyen, enriching the experience of tourists, including MICE tourists attending events and exploring investment opportunities combined with tourism./.
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