It is a slow, progressive change, but a very powerful one: increasingly meetings and events are considered not just as a tourism asset (whose mission would be filling hotels and restaurants) but as one of economic impact and knowledge development. This idea came up about a decade ago and is no less than a drastic change of DNA for our industry. This is not about disconnecting from tourism: obviously MICE is connected to tourism, uses touristic assets, needs professionals trained in tourism, and feeds the tourism industry… but its very objective for the destinations and the country is changing, capitalising on its amazing power to stimulate collaboration, idea exchange, continued education, even investment opportunities. And behind this change is increasingly a new way of conceiving the very role of convention bureaus. And even their organizational model.
Eric Mottard