What steps should a government take?

THE STRATEGIC CHOICES OF THE GOVERNMENT TO GET MORE MICE BUSINESS…

Does the government has a task to stimulate the MICE business? Is this important for the business?

Here the second preview, a part of the chapter “the meaning for cities & countries”:

The Government has two major tasks when putting the city, region, or a country on the international map:

  • Branding for which long-term strategic choices have to be made.
  • Providing government support

Branding:

To be able organise a MICE event the government has to have a number of things in order. Of course, eventually the final goal is to brand the city or the country as a unique location where any MICE event can be perfectly organised.

First of all, it is important that the country is politically stable . Many MICE events have a long lead time, so it is not desirable if political decisions are reversed which will complicate the organising of the event. There is also danger of corruption, strikes and uprisings in an unstable political country.

Then there is the infrastructure. Is the location easily accessible for all participants? Often, the participants of a MICE event come from all over the world. It is not helpful when someone needs to change transportation often to reach a location. Once arrived in the country easy accessibility is necessary.

There must also be sufficient hotels (in different price ranges) and venues to host the event.

Also good public utilities are important so that the event can be carried out without interruptions.

And to get the infrastructure in order, the government will have to make strategic choices. If necessary, the infrastructure has to be adjusted what can take several years.

Safety is also an important issue. We are talking about two forms of security: the general safety of the country and the security facilities around the MICE event.

General safety of the country:

  • acts of war,
  • abductions,
  • (armed) raids,
  • bomb attacks,
  • terrorism (threats),
  • natural disasters,
  • epidemics,
  • chance of (tropical or indigenous) diseases,
  • contamination of food.

Security around the MICE event:

  • attacks on people,
  • contamination of food,
  • risk of accidents.

The task of the government will be foremost operational support. It is of course important that all staff concerned with the safety are well trained and have the right resources to put in force.

To be able to give the service that the MICE visitor expects it is important that everyone employed with reference to the event knows exactly what is expected of him or her. Education is the means that should be used for this purpose. It is very important that all staff is well trained, at all levels. Both in operational and managerial positions.

An another task of the government is to invest in the dissemination of knowledge and professional competence. Facilitating good education is a must!

Finally, it is important that all stakeholders see the usefulness of all efforts made to brand a city, area or country. For this is Goodwill of all parties involved necessary.

If all of these conditions are met, Branding can start to take place.

The great danger is that branding of a city, area or country is implemented too early. When the basis is not right, visitors will easily go home dissatisfied with negative experiences and reviews.

Because within the MICE industry we are dealing with large groups of people, it’s hard to change a negative image into a positive image.

However, when all the parts are in place, there is a good chance that the visitors will go home more than satisfied and with a positive message. In other words, there will be more business tourists when all the strategic steps have been taken in the right order.

Government support:

When finally a MICE event can take place within a city, region or country, the government can offer support in different areas:

  • Produce the MICE event
  • Own the MICE event
  • Sponsor the MICE event
  • Assist the sector:

More about this topic you can read in the book…

Keep in touch and look at www.therealmicebook.com for more information.