By Uwin Lugoda MICE (Meetings, incentives, conferences, and exhibitions) tourism is showing signs of recovery with several high profile international conferences set to take place in the country within the next 12 months. With the security and economic uncertainty brought about by the Easter attacks, five international events were taken away from Sri Lanka, according to an official of the Sri Lankan Convention Bureau (SLCB). However, several events were only postponed, and with the normalisation of the security situation, most of these events will go ahead in Sri Lanka during the latter part of 2019 or 2020. The most prominent among these events are estimated to bring in around 300 to 500 foreign delegates each. Most recently, Sri Lanka has been given the green light to host the World HR Congress for the year of 2020, following concerns after the East Sunday attack. Chartered Institute of Personnel Management Sri Lanka (CIPM)President Dhammika Fernando stated that while there were initial concerns after Easter Sunday, the World Federation of People Management Association (WFPMA) gave a grace period of two months to see if the situation in the country would improve, and finally gave their approval on the last week of June. “The Federation was taken aback when the attacks happened and they wanted us to halt all the preparations until a decision was taken. Then, we appealed to the Federation that things would go back to normal, to which they gave us a grace period of two months.” The World HR Congress 2020 will be hosted by CIPM from 6-8 July at BMICH and is expected to attract 2,500 participants, including 800-1,000 foreign delegates. Globally acclaimed professionals in the management and human resources (HR) sphere will converge in Sri Lanka for the 46th ARTDO conference from 23 to 25 September 2019 at Hilton Colombo. This is the first time Sri Lanka has been chosen as the venue for this global event and over 20 world-renowned HR and management gurus and Numero Uno specialists in several fields will be in Sri Lanka to share their knowledge and experiences. From 1-5 December, Sri Lanka will host the IWA Water and Development Congress and Exhibition 2019. The global event will be organised by the Ministry of City Planning and Water Supply of Sri Lanka in collaboration with the International Water Association (IWA). The event will look into sustainable solutions for emerging economies to achieve the 2030 Sustainable Development Goal of ensuring the availability and sustainable management of water and sanitation. It is expected to bring together a global audience of practitioners, utility managers, academia, government officials, consultants, and media. The Asia Cash Cycle Seminar is another international event set to take place from 23-26 September and will see the arrival of several professionals from the banking industry. The event will be carried out with the support of the Central Bank of Sri Lanka and will focus on regional implications for the cash management industry from both commercial and central bank perspectives. From 3-5 October, the 58th ACI Financial Markets World Congress, a congress held by the Sri Lanka Forex Association (SLFA) which is affiliated to the ACI – The Financial markets Association, will take place in Colombo. The event is estimated to bring in ACI members from over 60 countries alongside industry stakeholders representing central banks, commercial and investment banks, asset management firms, hedge funds, consulting firms, broker-dealers, service providers, exchanges, corporations, government and regulatory agencies, and academia. The regional gathering of Global Shapers titled “Shape South Asia 2019” will also be taking place in Sri Lanka in October, with the participation of over 150 youth leaders from the region and Europe, as well as a few high-level officials from the World Economic Forum (WEF). The opening ceremony of the event is expected to be graced by Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe. Each of these events is expected to bring in its fair share of foreign delegates. The SLCB hopes to use these events and MICE tourists they attract as an opportunity to showcase that people are still willing to visit Sri Lanka despite the problems the country faced. The total international market share of MICE is in excess of $ 270 billion and its output accounts for about 1% of global GDP. Out of the 2,116,407 tourists that entered the country in 2017, around 1.3% was attributed to MICE tourism. MICE tourists have been seen to spend, on average, double the amount that a conventional tourist does. This is thanks to the spending power of the tourists that these events attract. A study by the IE Foundation shows that 67% of business travellers say they take time off to relax during business travel, 58% said they often stay a day or two more to get to know the city, and others usually intend to return with friends or family for vacations. Sri Lanka Convention Bureau, which falls under the Tourism Ministry, is the primary contact point for meeting planners, incentive houses, corporates, and association for information, advice, and expertise when planning and organising events in Sri Lanka. The Bureau works closely with the industry and the national airline to promote Sri Lanka as a venue for MICE events.