Pent up demand for overseas travel looks promising for the MICE sector
18th October 2021
MICE travel (Meetings, Incentives, Conferences, Exhibitions) is one of the most important segments of the global tourism industry. The sector has been hit hard by the COVID-19 pandemic but research has uncovered a strong pent-up demand for business travel. Business travel experts expect the segment to recover fully by 2025 as vaccines are rolled out and confidence in overseas travel resumes.
Before the pandemic, ‘bleisure’ travel, defined as a mix of business and leisure travel, was emerging strongly as a travel trend, driven by Millennials seeking authentic and unique experiences while on a business trip. This trend is set to continue as tourism gets back on track and offers local tour operators in many developing countries with strong MICE products good opportunities to develop suitable bleisure products for the European tourism market.
Acorn’s new business study to guide and advise SMEs in developing countries enter the European market for tourism is the latest in a series of business guides for the CBI, part of the Netherlands Enterprise Agency. Backed up by extensive research, the guide highlighted the importance of quality services and safety protocols, outlined the structure of the MICE industry and provided an analysis of competing countries and operators.
