Africa – a booming destination for the MICE market
As the leading supplier of Conference and Simultaneous Interpretation equipment in Africa, we’re incredibly passionate about the MICE Market and we take pride in being able to take part in its growing success across the African continent.
According to Ana Figueroa from Trip Savvy, “The term ‘MICE’ in the context of travel is an acronym for meetings, incentives, conferences, and exhibitions. The MICE market refers to a specialized niche of group tourism dedicated to planning, booking, and facilitating conferences, seminars, and other events, which is a big moneymaker in the travel industry.”
With African tourism being centred on wildlife, breathtaking scenery and sun-kissed coasts, it’s no wonder companies are choosing Africa as the continent of choice when it comes to conferencing. With natural beauty at the forefront of its attraction, people are opting to stay with family members for extended periods of time as opposed to simply attending the business event and leaving soon thereafter. Apart from its natural beauty, we’ve identified 2 major elements that have contributed to the overall influx of business events across Africa:
Increased flight access
Throughout 2018, connectivity to Africa improved quite drastically. Here are few changes that occurred:
- Ethiopia Airways added new services to Chicago and Los Angeles
- Kenya Airways launched a direct flight to New York
- British Airways created a new route with direct flights from Durban, South Africa to Heathrow Airport in London
- Virgin Atlantic added a second daily flight service between Johannesburg, South Africa and Heathrow Airport in London.
Unusual conference and event venues
Conference organisers are now looking for venues that are able to cater for “unusual” requests. Africa as a whole has numerous venues that completely steer away from the normal. Some examples include Zeitz Museum in Cape Town, South Africa and Constitution Hill in Johannesburg, South Africa.
With that being said, here are a few generic pointers on how to successfully plan your next conference n Africa:
- Plan well in advance
- Have a firm understanding of the local electricity issues and plan ahead for all eventualities
- Brainstorm innovative ideas to meet your goals
- Select a destination that will motivate the participants
- Get support from a professional company
- Be well versed with all on-site details
- Create an event schedule with your local MICE partner
In closing, we found an article where Global DMC Partners placed South Africa and Morocco in the World’s Top 10 MICE destinations for 2019. This is a serious achievement for Africa and we couldn’t agree more with the rating!
Read the full article here: https://www.chapman-freeborn.com/en/top-10-mice-destinations-2019/
