Spain tops preferred MICE destination poll
- MICEBTN archive stories issue 27
- Friday, 09 February 2007
SPAIN has topped an international survey in which convention bureaux and conference planners were asked for their most-preferred destination.
The survey was undertaken by Rob Davidson, senior lecturer in Business Travel and Tourism at The University of Westminster in London and released as part of his annual EIBTM 2006 Industry Trends and Market Share report.
Spain topped the polls as the most-preferred destination when respondents were asked for the three foreign countries where they booked the majority of their conference/incentive business during the past 12 months.
The survey also showed that emerging countries such as China, Vietnam and Croatia were considered 'new' destinations and had been booked for the 'first time' during the past year by respondents.
Only 10 per cent of the sample reported that they had not considered a new destination, demonstrating the continuing appetite for innovation in this market.
Prior to making decisions about selecting new destinations the respondents clearly identified that 'novelty value' played a part in the process, as did 'value for money'. A familiarisation trip helped them to assess the viability of a new location, as did a personal recommendation.
“ROI is emerging as the continual theme in the choice of destination, although there are many influencing factors that help the decision process such as information on new facilities, hotel openings and a new business link with the destination. If a destination or product doesn’t get its brand out there, it really won’t be able to compete on the same scale as those that do invest heavily in promoting themselves to the buyers and planners,” said Davidson.
More than 20 major city convention bureaux were sampled and asked how much knowledge they believed they had concerning the major conferences and incentives that were staged in their city. Davidson said he was surprised in some instances at the lack of knowledge about the economic impact these events produced.
“Comparatively low levels of awareness of the economic impacts of conferences and incentive events held at a destination is disturbing, especially when CVB’s are under growing pressure to demonstrate their effectiveness in generating local economic benefits” said Davidson.
