• Southern MICE Expo to take place from 27-31 May

Tourism is a diverse sector that caters to different needs and preferences. While we often talk about religious tourism, wellness tourism, and wildlife tourism, tourism stakeholders in the country have been in more recent times focusing on meetings, incentives, conferences, and exhibitions, or MICE. Sri Lanka’s potential for MICE tourism is one that both industry leaders and State authorities have identified and efforts are being made to raise awareness locally and globally about Sri Lanka’s role in the MICE industry.

One such effort is the upcoming Southern MICE Expo, set to take place from 27-31 May. Organised by the Sri Lanka Convention Bureau (SLCB), with the support of the Tourism and Lands Ministry, the event aims to position the southern region of the country as a leading destination from MICE tourism. According to the organisers, the comprehensive four-day agenda includes an opening plenary, dynamic business forum, business-to-business (B2B) meetings, elegant gala dinner, and an immersive tour of the southern region.

The SLCB anticipates the attendance of 115 MICE buyers and media representatives from prominent international markets, including India, China, Pakistan, Germany, Russia, France, United Kingdom, Turkey, Spain, United Arab Emirates, Bangladesh, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Malaysia, Japan, Iran, and Singapore.

The organisers and partners of the event recently addressed the media to share more details about the Southern MICE Expo.

Tourism beyond Colombo

Tourism and Lands Minister Harin Fernando commended the efforts by SLCB and the event partners, saying it was a great pleasure to see a Southern MICE expo being organised to promote Sri Lanka’s southern facilities for MICE tourism.

“Sri Lanka is not just Colombo, and we’d like to take the MICE market out of Colombo and give them a leisure experience together with business, conferences, and exhibitions that we can host,” he said, adding that they are also looking at utilising the Hambantota Convention Centre.

Sri Lanka Convention Bureau General Manager Krishantha Fernando spoke about the potential of the southern region, saying that currently, the southern coast was registering over 70% occupancy. “If the same trend continues, by late 2025, we will need more rooms in Sri Lanka, not only along the southern coast, but island wide. We are carrying out studies right now to ascertain the demand and to try and match the supply at each of these places with the required quality accommodation.”

He went on to say: “Where a regular tourist would spend about $ 190 a day, we expect a MICE tourist to spend at least $ 350 a day. The average duration of stay would be shorter, but the income and the multi-tier benefits would be better.”

Krishantha Fernando shared that this year’s target of 2.3 million tourists included the expectation of at least 150,000 MICE tourists. He also said that destination weddings are a very important matter the country should look at and work on, especially in markets like India, where there is a lot of potential.

Increased awareness

Addressing the gathering, Sri Lanka Association of Professional Conference, Exhibition, and Event Organisers (SLAPCEO) President Imran Hassan spoke about conversations held at previous forums, where, when the topic of a business MICE expo came up, even they didn’t know what it would entail, as the country was in the immediate post-pandemic stage.

“One of the things that we realised was that awareness not only within the country but also about Sri Lanka as a MICE destination was not really enough. One of the key events of the SLCB has become the MICE Expo,” he said, explaining that the first event of this nature kicked off in March 2023, and was a success due to its partners and supporters.

“More than anything, awareness was also raised within the country, because people didn’t really know what MICE was. After so much turmoil, the Covid-19 pandemic, and the economic crisis, people had forgotten the word MICE,” he said.

Hassan went on to share that today, due to the programmes carried out by SLCB, such as regional training programmes, as well as promotional events, roadshows, and trade fairs they take part in, there is more awareness about the MICE industry within the country as well as Sri Lanka’s potential as a MICE destination.

He added that out-of-the-box thinking was needed, with new ways of promoting Sri Lanka as a MICE destination. An example he cited was the MICE expo held in Jaffna, following the Colombo event, which opened the region to the South Indian market.

His positive outlook extended to the Southern MICE Expo as well, with Hassan saying SLAPCEO would be extending their support for it.