MICE tourism struggles on the way to recover

The number of foreign tourists to Vietnam in the first seven months of 2010 increased by 35 percent, but the MICE tourism market segment has not yet fully recovered from the global financial crisis.
According to some travel firms, the situation has become much better than 2009, when there were very few MICE (meeting, incentive, convention, exhibition) tourists. However, most come from Asia, while the scale of tourist groups is smaller. There were only several small group of European tourists whose trips to Vietnam were gifts from big companies.
Bui Viet Thuy Tien, Managing Director of Asian Trails Company, noted that in 2009 MICE partners in Europe even refused price estimates, but now they are asking about services and fees again, while some partners have booked seats.
“We began having MICE tourists in September, but the number of clients remains modest,” Tien confirmed.
New World Saigon (NWS) has also reported improvement in MICE tourism. In 2009, tourists from Singapore and Hong Kong “kept quiet”, but now they are returning. However, like Asian Trails, the hotel observed that the scale of MICE tourists is smaller. “Some groups of tourists stayed here for three nights and booked only 50-100 rooms. Meanwhile, in previous years, we sometimes had groups that booked 250 rooms at one time,” recalled Pham Van Liem, NWS Sales Director.
The Saigon Exhibition and Convention Centre in HCM City reported that the centre is fully booked for events in September, October and November.
Tran Van Hau, its managing director, maintained that business is better. He hopes that the situation will be brighter in 2011, when many large-scale events will take place, including the automobile, wood furniture and maritime exhibitions, organized once every two years. Hau added that European partners, one of their two main client sources, have asked for next year’s information.
After last year’s financial difficulties, MICE organizers have been trying to cut expenses. Also, more orders placed just before departure have appeared, actions that did not happen in the past.
According to Tien, MICE tours can no longer bring travel firms much higher profits than normal tours. Partners always think very carefully before booking. Tien explained that travel firms now can only hope to earn high profits from providing special services to MICE tourists. For example, some MICE travelers want to meet domestic economists or have dinner with special people. “With such special requests, the service fee could be 2-3 times higher. However, these requests do not come regularly.
Pham Mai Hoang Loc from Saigontourist remarked that, previously, partners regularly ordered all kinds of services. However, they now only use some services. For example, some ask Vietnamese travel firms to be in charge of event organization and hotel booking, while they arrange air tickets themselves.
“This has certainly led to sharp cuts in the revenue of travel firms. In times of economic difficulties, it is understandable that partners must tighten their belts,” Loc conceded.
Meanwhile, travel firms have become accustomed to late orders. “Previously, we did not accept tours booked only three weeks before departure time, but now we do,” Loc revealed.