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More venues needed for MICE tourism 

27 Feb 2022

  • Industry says Colombo is not entertaining enough 
  By Imesh Ranasinghe  MICE tourism, which represents the meetings, incentives, conventions, exhibitions tourism segment, was valued at almost $ 1 trillion in 2019 globally before the pandemic, according to the European Union.  In Sri Lanka, MICE tourism takes up 11% of the total tourism sector according to official data by the Sri Lanka Tourism Development Board (SLTDA) and has generated an annual revenue of $ 160 million on average between 2015 and 2019. However, MICE tourism leaders such as Singapore and Dubai derive 22-25% of their tourism revenue from this sector annually, on average. In 2021, Sri Lanka’s tourism authorities have focused their attention more on MICE tourism with the intention of making Sri Lanka a top MICE tourism destination.   MICE tourism not yet recovered globally Sri Lanka Association of Inbound Tour Operators (SLAITO) Secretary Darshana Cabraal said that although promotions have been undertaken, MICE tourism has not yet gained its full potential in the world since the beginning of the Covid-19 pandemic due to various health restrictions and health concerns. He said that since the start of the pandemic in Sri Lanka, MICE tourism had not seen any significant growth, but added that there were certain exhibitions that would come to Sri Lanka by April. Cabraal noted that even famous MICE tourism destinations in Southeast Asia such as Singapore and Malaysia had not yet recovered from the pandemic. However, according to the Singapore Tourism Board, in 2021 Singapore hosted more than 200 MICE events with almost 50,000 local and international attendees. These included pilot events to test new protocols, such as the Bloomberg New Economy Forum, Industrial Transformation Asia Pacific 2021, Milken Institute Asia Summit, and the 50th St. Gallen Symposium. “We are receiving MICE tourism inquiries gradually as Covid-19 restrictions are somewhat relaxed in Sri Lanka compared to other countries, and also due to the lower Covid numbers and the vaccination drive,” he said. According to him, the coming months of 2022 will be a good time for MICE tourism in Sri Lanka.  Further, he said that prior to the pandemic, Sri Lanka had not been considered as a MICE tourism destination due to the lack of facilities in the country such as infrastructure and incentives.   Lack of venues a major problem  Sri Lanka Association of Professional Conference, Exhibition, and Event Organisers (SLAPCEO) President Imran Hassan revealed that many MICE tourism inquiries were incoming, especially from India, because Indians faced difficulties in going to other countries and as they had easy access to Sri Lanka. According to him, the huge drive from India would be enough for the country, if it came through. Hassan said Sri Lanka had a serious lack of infrastructure to support MICE tourism as the country lacked enough convention and exhibition centres. The Bandaranaike Memorial International Conference Hall (BMICH) is being used by the MICE tourism sector in Sri Lanka for conventions, conferences, and exhibitions while the Sri Lanka Exhibition and Convention Centre (SLECC) land has been put up for lease by the Urban Development Authority (UDA) and the Mahinda Rajapaksa International Conference Hall in Hambantota is rarely used for such events. “We can’t hold conferences for more than 1,500 people. We are asking for a proper convention centre and exhibition centres which could be multi-use,” Hassan said. He added that even though Port City had said that they would build a venue for such events, not even the people in Port City had any knowledge about its progress when inquiries were made. Further, he said that MICE tourism destinations such as the Singapore EXPO centre could host 10,000 exhibition stalls while BMICH could only host 200 stalls.  “This is the disparity we have,” he emphasised. Moreover, he said that there was no real incentive for the people in MICE tourism to use the Hambantota convention centre as its prices were the same as the BMICH. Hassan stated that a convention centre should be built in Jaffna and incentives should be provided for the people to properly use these centres, as simply having convention centres was not enough.   Lack of entertainment in Colombo City  Speaking to The Sunday Morning Business, The Hotels Association of Sri Lanka (THASL) President M. Shanthikumar said that apart from the challenges of having proper venues for MICE tourism in Sri Lanka, the lack of entertainment in Colombo City was also a barrier. According to him, Colombo City mostly caters to MICE tourism and other activities and not for the leisure tourist. However, he said when there were conventions or conferences in Colombo, most of the delegates travelled with their spouses, so there was a lack of entertainment and things to do in the city which also had to be addressed. “There are fewer activities in the City of Colombo for the spouses to do and spend time on. Even in the night after the convention or conference, they should be able to go out for some form of entertainment in Colombo,” Shanthikumar said. However, he noted that Sri Lanka has a good future in MICE tourism.   No way to trace MICE tourism in Sri Lanka  Another problem Hassan sees is that Sri Lanka lacks the ability to trace MICE tourists that arrive in the country due to the non-availability of a category in visa issuance to identify them. He said this was due to classifying MICE tourists as business travellers, which costs $ 10 more than a leisure tourist visa.  He added: “So since none of the MICE travellers want to pay $ 10 dollars more and come as a business traveller, they pay the normal fee and come. Since there is nobody to double-check the statistics, Sri Lanka’s MICE tourism statistics are very poor.” Hassan said that the SLTDA Chairperson, Tourism Minister, Sri Lanka Convention Bureau, and other industry stakeholders were fighting to change this, along with the Department of Immigration and Emigration. “We are fighting it together,” he highlighted. According to him, a Cabinet paper was prepared last year to be presented to the Cabinet but has not yet been presented as the Department of Immigration and Emigration is having further discussions with the relevant parties. Accordingly, Sri Lanka does not have a proper record about its MICE tourism performance, Hassan said, noting that however, according to SLAPCEO, Sri Lanka receives about 15-20% MICE tourism on average each year. Sri Lanka Convention Bureau (SLCB) Marketing Manager Malkanthi Welikala confirmed to The Sunday Morning Business that a Cabinet paper had been prepared on the matter last year but added that currently the SLTDA and the SLCB were working with the Immigration Department to sort out the matter and amend the arrival card in order to keep the leisure and MICE tourist at equal visa rates of $ 35.  She added that the SLTDA and the SLCB were having discussions with tourism associations and the industry on how to deal with the issue of insufficient venues for MICE tourism.    Benefits of MICE tourism  Speaking on the benefits of MICE tourism, Hassan explained that a MICE tourist would pay three times the amount a normal leisure tourist would, because their travel was generally paid for by their respective companies or government. This left them in possession of more money, unlike the leisure tourist who arrived on a package and did not have enough money to spend. Generally, MICE tourists were wealthy travellers and would bring their families the next time they visited Sri Lanka, Hassan stated.  “If you take Dubai and Singapore, they thrive on MICE tourism. That is the future for Sri Lanka. Those countries’ policies are actually driven by MICE tourism. It’s a billion-dollar industry for Sri Lanka that can take the country to the next level. We don’t have to depend on anything, MICE tourism alone can help us,” he said.   Promotional activities stalled by unavailability of boards  Sri Lanka recently conducted a MICE Expo virtually for the first time in December 2021, and according to Welikala, the exhibition would continue this year in physical format, for which 100 MICE buyers from key markets would be invited.  “Our main strategy is to promote MICE tourism with leisure, so when MICE tourists arrive in Sri Lanka we blend MICE tourism with leisure experiences such as city tours, etc.,” Welikala said. Welikala added that key markets for MICE tourism were not identified in the same way as leisure tourism markets were identified. Factors such as direct air connectivity, travel time, and others would be considered. Sri Lanka’s main MICE tourism market is India while other markets include China, Pakistan, and Bangladesh. However, China has closed its borders due to the pandemic. According to Welikala, the Sri Lankan Embassy in China had noted that China would open its borders in May. She said that Sri Lanka would also be participating in the upcoming main international MICE exhibitions such as IMEX, IBTM, and ITA Asia, and would be doing promotions in Indian cities such as Chennai, New Delhi, Bangalore, Pune, and Mumbai. However, according to an industry official who spoke to The Sunday Morning Business, all the planned tourism promotions by the tourism authorities have been stalled at the moment as the director boards of the SLTDA, Sri Lanka Tourism Promotion Bureau, and Sri Lanka Institute of Tourism and Hotel Management have been dissolved since 31 December 2021. According to him, the approvals required for promotion activities could not be obtained at the moment. He said that other than the MICE Expo, a few virtual promotional activities were conducted overseas in countries such as Pakistan, Bangladesh, and Indonesia with very few participants. The official said that due to these reasons, no government could take credit for the growth of MICE tourism in Sri Lanka as Sri Lanka didn’t become The Lonely Planet’s number one destination because of any promotions done by any government. In the case of Indian MICE tourism, the official noted that many of these tourists arrived through Indian Government events and wished to spend their remaining budget before the end of the financial year on 31 March. Responding to this claim, Welikala said that approvals could be obtained from the Secretary to the Tourism Ministry to hold emergency promotion programmes in the coming days.

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