MICE (meeting, incentive, convention and exhibition) tourism could be the next big thing for Ho Chi Minh City’s tourism sector if certain problems are addressed. 

The World Tourism Organization, which surveyed HCMC last August, said the city might overtake Singapore as the favorite MICE destination in the region if it focused on developing infrastructure and overseas promotion.

Industry experts said the shortage of international standard facilities was the biggest problem in attracting MICE visitors to the city.

Only some hotels like Sheraton, New World, Caravelle, Rex, and Equatorial have spacious, modern meeting halls suitable for large international conventions.

The shortage of luxury accommodation in HCMC was also a hindrance in the promotion of MICE tours, La Quoc Khanh, deputy director of the city Tourism Department, said.

Pham Mai Hoang Loc, head of MICE tourism at local travel giant Saigontourist, agreed and said as a result no city travel company was able to organize MICE tours for business groups of 500 or more.

Another difficulty, Khanh said, was that very few tourist companies were able to organize MICE tours professionally.

Many travel companies complain about lack of support from the city in exploiting MICE tourism.

“We have to manage by themselves, from seeking customers to organizing MICE tours, without any support from the Tourism Department,” Le Hoang Yen, director of Ben Thanh Tourist’s MICE Center, complained. She added that mapping out a national-level strategy was imperative for developing MICE tourism.

Many tourist agencies in HCMC expect earnings from MICE tourism would be four or five times higher than from other tourism forms.

Saigontourist and Ben Thanh Tourist, which have achieved some success in organizing MICE tours for both local and foreign customers, said the country had recently witnessed an increased demand for this kind of tourism.

Ben Thanh has organized tours for more than 2,000 MICE visitors this year and Saigontourist for more than 1,000.

“With its safety, Vietnam is now among the favorites of MICE tourists,” Yen said.

“Moreover, Vietnam is also a new destination boasting unique historical and cultural features and this helps improve the country’s competitiveness compared with Singapore and Thailand.”

She pointed out HCMC had many advantages to develop MICE tours since visitors could make quick excursions to famous tourist spots nearby like Vung Tau and Phan Thiet.

Reported by Trung Bao – Reported by Thu Thuy