Philippines promotes MICE to North American market

MANILA, Philippines — The Philippines continues to promote the country’s meetings, incentives, conventions and Exhibition (MICE) market to buyers in North America.

The Tourism Promotions Board participated in the IMEX America 2019 at the Sands Expo, Las Vegas.

It was joined by the Department of Tourism in LA (PDOT-LA),Philippine Airlines, Makati Shangri-La, and Clark Development Corp. among others.

IMEX America 2019, the largest and most important trade show for the meetings and incentive travel industry in North America, features 290 international and local exhibitors in one roof.

“The Philippine participation aims to further raise awareness on the country as a preferred MICE destination, generate sales leads as well as sustain and update MICE travel partners and organizers on the new developments in the Philippines through pre-scheduled individual and group appointments of the delegation,” the TPB said.

Earlier this year, TPB also participated in the incentives, business travel and meetings (IBTM) Americas 2019.

“The newly launched MICE show by internationally renowned Reed Travel Exhibitions Group pools an extensive gathering of MICE players from both IBTM North and South Americas shows, allowing them to network with suppliers from all corners of the world,” the TPB earlier said.

Travel trade and MICE buyers were invited to visit the Philippine booth to sample award-winning Benguet coffee sourced from the Philippine highlands.

“The overwhelming reception of the Americas market to the Philippine participation promises much return for the government and its partner stakeholders in the coming years,” the TPB said.

In the first seven months, foreign arrivals from North America grew 2.74 percent to 812,076 arrivals.

Arrivals from South America, on the other hand, surged 25.7 percent to 11,211 arrivals.

Last year, the DOT launched the MICE Roadmap 2030, which crafts a more definitive approach to the growing industry.

Under the roadmap, the MICE market aims to grow revenues to P24.4 billion by 2030, more than five times the P4.6 billion registered in 2016.