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This Issue’s Topical Story

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Macao MICE Industry Focuses on High-quality Development

In recent years, the convention and exhibition industry (also known as MICE industry) in Macao has been steadily developing and has yielded positive results, which can been seen in many aspects such as the scale of industry, market performance, brand exhibitions.

In terms of the scale of industry, a total of 1,536 MICE events were held in Macao in 2019, 109 more events compared with the previous year, among which 1,459 were conferences, taking up over 90% of the total events. 2019’s number manifests a 28.5% increase compared to 2009 when 1,195 MICE activities were held in the city.

At the same time, Macao is gradually cultivating multiple local brand exhibitions. Nine local exhibitions have obtained UFI certification, which is twice as many as 2015. These exhibitions involve commerce, environmental protection, automobiles, yachts, aviation and other fields.

Gradually apparent effectiveness

Located in the Greater Pearl River Delta Area, in particular being one of the central cities of Guangdong, Hong Kong and Macao Greater Bay Area, Macao has various unique conditions for the development of the MICE industry. Macao is positioned as “One Centre, One Platform, and One Base”, which signifies a “World Centre of Tourism and Leisure”, a “Commercial and Trade Co-operation Service Platform between China and Portuguese-speaking Countries (PSCs)” and “Base for Exchange and Co-operation Where Chinese Culture Is the Mainstream and Diverse Cultures Coexist”. Macao is equipped with world-class facilities for MICE events, catering to different types of MICE events and fully highlighting Macao’s unique advantages “small but fine and beautiful”. As the city enhances the diversified development of local economy, it continues to promote the qualitative development of MICE industry.

Meanwhile, the increased supply of venues and improved transportation facilities also facilitates the scale expansion of MICE industry. At present, Macao has a large number of integrated resorts, which can provide more than 190,000 square metres of world-class international conference and exhibition venues and about 34,000 hotel rooms. With the completion of new hotels, the area of the exhibition venue and the number of hotel rooms will further increase. In addition, the opening of Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macao Bridge and the innovative “integrated examinations for express clearing” of Hengqin New Border Gate will substantially facilitate the entry and exit of MICE business guests from the whole Pearl River Delta Area.

In terms of market performance, Macao MICE industry has gradually won international recognition. According to the report of International Congress and Convention Association (ICCA), 54 Macao MICE events were accredited by ICCA in 2019. Macao’s worldwide ranking jumped from 93rd in 2015 to 48th, while Macao’s Asia-Pacific ranking jumped to 12th. Meanwhile, the proportion of ICCA-accredited international conferences has continuously risen in local-held conferences.

According to the “15th Edition of Asian Trade Fair Research Report” published by the Global Association of the Exhibition Industry (UFI), Macao’s exhibition market grew by 5.2% in 2018, ranking among top 10 in the Asia-Pacific region, and also higher than the average growth level in the Asia-Pacific region.

In terms of industry added value, MICE events can create greater “added value” for other industries. From 2015 to 2018, the total value added to Macao’s MICE events has increased from MOP 1.44 billion to MOP 3.52 billion, an increase of nearly 1.4 times. In the meantime, the MICE events also bring business visitors with more buying power to the city. In 2019, the per capita consumption of visitors who participated in MICE events in Macao was MOP 3,781, which was 2.3 times of the average per capita consumption of MOP 1,626 of general visitors. In 2019, more than 35,000 MICE business visitors were guided to visit and shop in different local communities of Macao.

In order to meet the new requirements of high-quality development and further assist local MICE practitioners to improve their professional standards, the SAR Government has encouraged local MICE industry to co-operate with internationally authoritative MICE organisations to introduce international professional certification training and assessment in the city, namely CEM (Certified in Exhibition Management) and EMD (Exhibition Management Degree) programmes. Until now, the city has cultivated more than 252 CEM registered exhibition managers and 97 EMD senior exhibition managers, turning Macao into one of the cities that trains most CEM China.

Reaching a higher level

In the economic and financial fields of the “Policy Address for the Fiscal Year 2020”, “promoting exhibitions with conferences” is pointed out as a strategy for the MICE industry; other means of upgrading local MICE industry include the re-planning of booths and the optimisation of design to increase the recruitment scale of local brand exhibitions; introducing more quality MICE projects in Macao through the network of MICE organisers and “conference ambassadors”; deepening the use of new models of co-operation with the Mainland such as “One Fair, Two Venues”; making good use of regional infrastructure and technological elements to facilitate businesspersons’ participation in MICE events. In the document also include goals to further assist the industry to strengthen its capability to host and to bid for MICE events, to continue supporting the organisation of international professional certification courses and assessments in Macao. These goals also involve guiding more overseas businesspersons to attend MICE and business events in Macao and boost investment and consumption in the city, and to promote the expansion of all industries through the MICE industry.

As the department designated to promote the development of MICE industry in Macao, IPIM has conducted relevant works in various aspects to provide comprehensive support for MICE organisers who intend to organise events in Macao, especially through “One-stop Service” for MICE bidding and support in Macao. In the future, IPIM will continue to strengthen policy guidance, optimise resource allocation, improve the quality of service, consolidate and enhance the effectiveness of branded projects to attract more high-quality events to be staged in Macao, and constantly improve the marketisation, professionalism and internationalisation of the MICE industry.

During the outbreak of novel coronavirus pneumonia, IPIM keeps close communication with the industry to understand what they need and takes the initiative to collect information of how Macao’s MICE industry operates. Aside from the meetings with the MICE industry to reinforce communication and organising instant message groups with the sector, IPIM also releases advices to the sector on novel coronavirus pneumonia prevention, and continues to attentively listen to the voice of the local sector. In response to the relevant demands, IPIM has carried out research and analysis works and design feasible measures to stand shoulder-to-shoulder with the industry and overcome difficulties.