Int’l bidding centre vital to boost MICE

Accessibility is improving but the MICE industry must be more pro-active in bidding for international branded events, speakers said yesterday at a forum

The MSAR should set up an international bidding centre for convention and exhibition events in order to further develop the industry, several keynote speakers said yesterday at a forum.
The chairman of the Macau Convention and Exhibition Association (MCEA), Li Zhizhong, was the first one to address the issue. He recalled that the association has already proposed to the government the establishment of a bidding centre that would go abroad to bid for events.
Li also added that this centre would facilitate “the introduction of international branded events”.
“Macau must strive to cultivate branded events with its own characteristics and intellectual property rights. This will be fundamental for the long-term development of MICE [Meetings, Incentives, Conventions and Exhibitions],” he said.
The territory should establish new goals and strategies, the head of consultancy company Gaining Edge, Gary Grimmer, said. “Macau mostly needs to be much more focused in an active bidding process and approach groups and convince them to organise events in Macau,” he said.
What a successful convention city needs is experienced researchers, experienced sales people and bidding to win conventions. Grimmer stressed that with the Pearl River Delta Bridge there will be “amazing opportunities to Macau”.
“The importance of bidding is not being aggressive,” the consultant added during a panel discussion. “You just have to be strategic and invite people to come,” he said.
The managing director of Singapore’s Conference and Exhibition Management Services urged Macau not to be afraid of being aggressive and bidding for conventions.
“Don’t be shy of being Chinese or Macanese. Just go out and tell the world you are here. If associations are strong with good international relationships, the second part is lobbying,” Edward Liu said.
The president of the Malaysian Association of Convention and Exhibition Organisers and Suppliers, called on the local MICE industry to focus on education and training of staff.
“There must be a government commitment. A lot of strategic plans can be introduced, but without commitment it is very difficult,” Jonathan Kan said.
In addition, Grimmer proposed that Macau focus on just 10 types of exhibitions. He also said: “It’s not enough to have government support, but also the industry working with the government and among themselves”.
On the contrary, Li Zhizhong argued that the local MICE industry needs more government support, as well as long-term policies and more tourism resources. “It will be much easier to get everything rolling out with the help of the government, which has large revenues,” he said.

Behind Singapore

Speakers believed the lack of accessibility that has been affecting the MICE industry would be solved with the opening of the Delta Bridge.
Li Zhizhong said that the new bridge, the Light Rapid Transit system and the Guangzhou-Zhuhai railway would alleviate the problem of insufficient transportation network.
However, the former vice-president of conventions and exhibitions of Venetian Macau, Wolfram Diener, said the transportation network problem is not the only problem.
“I fully agree that accessibility is not ideal but it is not as bad as it is perceived. You need to communicate how to get here. There are a lot of issues. It all comes out in how to create a destination market,” he said.
Apart from accessibility, the SAR also has to improve its logistics, appeal, image and support to MICE industries in order to compete with Singapore. Still, Grimmer is optimistic.
“Macau is not doing as well as it should be, but only four years have passed since it started developing MICE,” he added.
Unlike Singapore, Grimmer said, Macau is not pursuing many strategies and is failing to strengthen its associations connections, establishing headquarters of brands, industry training and by creating ambassador programmes.
“In Singapore, we have a very good bidding system, but also a very strong association network,” Edward Liu pointed out.
“Macau sometimes suffers a little bit of a feeling of being a small city and it should aspire to be up to other destinations in their business levels,” Grimmer said.
Diener advised Macau to identify its strengths and emphasise them, as well as to introduce more live shows.
The forum on ‘Outlook of Asia MICE Industry and Macao Positioning in this Development’ was held to mark the 10th anniversary of the MCEA association.