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November 23, 2017

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Taking big strides as a MICE destination

HANGZHOU was recently hailed at the 56th ICCA Congress, for taking rapid strides in becoming a major international MICE destination. The conference, held at the Prague Congress Center in the Czech Republic between November 12 and 15, was attended by more than 1,200 delegates from all over the world, double the participants compared with 2016.

ICCA Congress is an ideal platform in a bid to showcase the MICE advantages and resources of Hangzhou to global conference organizers, to enhance the “Hangzhou, Inspiring New Connections” branding campaign, and to build up networks with overseas channels.

It was the third time Hangzhou delegates have been involved at the ICCA Congress and a great number of conference organizers and professionals said that Hangzhou’s business awareness has greatly improved as a fresh MICE destination.

Hangzhou tourism

This year has been the China-Denmark tourism year, and in order to strengthen communication between the two countries, Zhuo Xinning, deputy director of Hangzhou Tourism Commission, led a delegate to Denmark.

Hangzhou Commerce and Tourism Group, China Travel Service Zhejiang Group Co Ltd, Hangzhou New China Travel Service Co Ltd and The Dragon Hotel all took part in the trip to Copenhagen, where they held a roadshow, interacted with more than 40 local travel agencies, and promoted the Hangzhou tourism resources.

Liu Dong, cultural counselor of Chinese Embassy in Denmark, and Philip Kyhl, business director of the Copenhagen Tourism Bureau in China, attended the event and delivered a speech.

After the G20 Summit was successfully held in Hangzhou, the reception capacity of Hangzhou has been immeasurably promoted, the conference services have been improved and the infrastructure is on a sound, solid footing.

Hangzhou Tourism Commission commissioned the World Tourism Organization to conduct a special survey on Hangzhou, before drafting the development strategy to turn Hangzhou into a top MICE destination in Asia Pacific region.

Taking advantage of the G20 Summit held last year in Hangzhou, tourism authorities launched its first conference destination brand “Inspiring New Connections” in China.

With the rapid development of Hangzhou’s MICE industry, executives and employees in the sector have accumulated a wealth of experience and significantly improved the quality of services.

In order to further exhibit Hangzhou’s advantages as a MICE destination and showcase the city’s unique characteristics, the Hangzhou Tourism Commission launched a round of promotions for 2017, enabling domestic and foreign meeting organizers to discover the city’s charm and see more possibilities for their events in the city.

Inspiring New Connections

The global promotion campaign for “Hangzhou, Inspiring New Connections” was held in Hangzhou in September, with 20 global conference purchasers and leading China conference organizers in attendance. It gave them an opportunity to experience the full array of Hangzhou’s rich MICE resources. This was achieved through a combination of interactive experiences and visits to sites that would bring event attendees in contact with Hangzhou’s unique local features, such as visiting the China National Silk Museum, cruises on West Lake, tea-picking in Longjing Village and yacht racing.

Meanwhile, Hangzhou Tourism Commission, for the first time, ran an event both in Hangzhou and Paris simultaneously. The specially designed booth was set up near Centre Georges Pompidou where European conference organizers can learn more about the Oriental scenic city without traveling thousands of miles.

Paris was chosen for this simultaneous event as it was the No. 1 MICE destination worldwide, according to the International Congress and Convention Association’s 2016 ranking.

At the end of the event, a banquet and sharing session was held at Hangzhou International Expo Center, the main venue of the G20 Summit. At the meeting, many of the organizers expressed an intent to choose Hangzhou as a destination for one of their future events.

Global conference destination

Cycling has become a relaxed, convenient and green way to travel. On June 11 this year, the Hangzhou public bicycle service project won the award of “2017 Ashton transportation sustainable development project.”

Hangzhou has been ranked No. 3 as a global conference destination among all the mainland cities for consecutive five years (2011-2015), according to ICCA, only second to Beijing and Shanghai.

At the same time, Hangzhou has already been awarded as one of the “top 10 glamorous conference destinations,” “best MICE city of Chinese mainland,” “best MICE destination” and “China’s most creative international MICE destination.”

The MICE sector in Hangzhou has taken a leading position among China’s second-tier cities in recent years. The majority of the businesses in the second-tier cities are small and disorganized, with a large gap compared with their counterparts in Beijing and Shanghai.

Hangzhou, despite its second-tier status, has so far proven to be the exception to the rule. Taking the 3rd Conference and Incentive Travel Industry Fair, Hangzhou, China as an example.

The fair has become a quality platform for resources exhibition and MICE destination promotion. Through the fair, 918 conferences have been introduced to Hangzhou; the spending generated by meetings amounted to 547 million yuan (US$83 million); more than 220 exhibitors attended 28 domestic and foreign MICE exhibitions; and more than 700 professional buyers visited Hangzhou and experienced featured MICE resources.

The city government set up the Hangzhou International Conference Bidding Service Center in June. The organization provides bidding services for international association conferences and other meetings.

The establishment of the center is expected to strongly boost Hangzhou’s MICE sector in its ability to win more conference bids, especially bids for international events.




 

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