Creating a breakthrough from MICE tourism to bring in large revenue

MICE tourist group visits Thang Long Imperial Citadel Heritage Site.

International mark

In early March, at the 4th World MICE Awards Ceremony held in Germany, Vietnam was once again honored in many important categories: “Asia’s Leading MICE Destination” went to Ho Chi Minh City; “Asia’s Best Corporate Resort Destination” went to Hoi An City (Quang Nam Province). In addition, other Vietnamese representatives receiving awards this time were: Vietnam Airlines was honored as “Asia’s Leading MICE Airline”; Vietravel was honored as “Asia’s Leading MICE Travel Organizer”.

Before this event, Director of the Vietnam National Administration of Tourism (Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism) Nguyen Trung Khanh assessed that this is a great joy for the tourism industry, showing that MICE tourism in Vietnam has been affirmed and left an impression on the international community. As the locality receiving the award "Asia's Leading MICE Destination" for the fourth consecutive time, Deputy Director of the Ho Chi Minh City Department of Tourism Bui Thi Ngoc Hieu expressed that this award further demonstrates the ability and attraction of Vietnam in general, and "the city named after Uncle Ho" in particular, in the field of organizing events and conferences. According to General Director of Vietravel Company Tran Doan The Duy, this great award motivates Vietnamese travel businesses to be more confident in investing and promoting the exploitation of the MICE market.

In fact, in recent years, MICE tourism has flourished, becoming an advantage for many travel agencies. In the first quarter of 2024 alone, Saigontourist Travel Company served more than 12,000 domestic and international MICE tourists. In Ho Chi Minh City alone, the unit served more than 50 MICE groups with about 6,000 tourists.

According to Vietluxtour Travel Company, in the first quarter of 2024, the unit signed many contracts with thousands of MICE guests, increasing the number of guests and revenue by 35% compared to the same period. Of the total number of domestic MICE guests in the first quarter of 2024, most guests chose hotels and resorts with service standards from 3 to 4 stars. Most MICE groups have a number of 100 to 500 guests, with itineraries to explore three regions of the country: Hanoi, Da Nang, Vung Tau, Phan Thiet, Tay Nguyen, Hue, Quang Ninh...

To make the "gold market" profitable

According to the Vietnam National Administration of Tourism, MICE tourism has become a very important market that countries in the region such as Singapore, Thailand, Malaysia, and China are interested in and investing in developing. MICE tourism brings in revenue 6 times higher than normal tourism. In Vietnam, MICE tourism is also considered one of the goals of the tourism development strategy.

Many experts believe that Vietnam, coming later, will learn from the experiences of other countries, thereby helping the MICE tourism market become more professional and more successful based on the available advantages of natural landscapes, cultural heritage, and a system of hotels and resorts that develop quite rapidly. According to General Director of Vietluxtour Company Tran The Dung, the MICE tourism needs of tourists have changed after the Covid-19 pandemic with a more diverse demand for service types. At the same time, the need to integrate and update technological features into MICE products is also of interest to tourists and businesses. This is both an opportunity and a challenge for localities and businesses to have appropriate investments to attract this type of customer.

Although it is on the rise and has made many impressions, tourism experts also assess that MICE tourism in Vietnam still faces many challenges. Chairman of the Vietnam Tourism Association Vu The Binh said that many localities want to attract MICE tourism, but the service system such as accommodation, event organization, and tourism products are not attractive. That is the reason why MICE guests staying long-term and organizing events regularly have not been attracted. To develop professional MICE tourism and generate large revenues, Mr. Vu The Binh said that localities need to have a master plan for MICE tourism development areas, from which there are policies to call for investment, develop a chain of professional accommodation, entertainment, and shopping services, to meet the needs of large numbers of guests and high spending.

In Hanoi, MICE tourism is one of the strengths of the capital's tourism. Hanoi has many advantages and potentials to develop this type when owning a luxury accommodation system in both the inner city and suburbs combined with many attractive types of tourism such as: Cultural tourism, golf tourism... Director of Hanoi Department of Tourism Dang Huong Giang said that Hanoi city regularly hosts many major events of national and international scale, creating opportunities for MICE tourism to develop. "For MICE tourism to become a strength of the capital's tourism, accommodation units need to closely coordinate with travel agencies to promote services, build suitable and quality products to attract large MICE groups from other countries", Ms. Dang Huong Giang shared.

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