Is the MICE industry as we know, down and out?Who ever thought a microscopic virus can wreak havoc on the entire globe? Well COVID-19 has done just that by affecting millions of people apart from causing the death of more than half a million humans.
MICE, as we know is an acronym that stands for Meetings, Incentives, Conferences and Exhibitions and the MICE that we know of is certainly not dead… Let’s just say it’s gone into a ‘coma’ and will take a long time to regain consciousness.
MICE events incorporate several features; closed spaces, crowded places, and close-contact settings – a fertile setting for the pandemic to spread. So, avoiding these three C’s is of paramount importance.
At a time social distancing is keeping ‘friends’ and colleagues apart, bringing people together physically, let alone being in one room eating at the buffet, is simply not on. No wonder then that hundreds of global events…conferences, conventions, festivals, launches, symposiums, including spectator sports, have been cancelled.
Virtual meetings and gatherings have become popular nowadays as we try to maintain physical distancing. However, attending a virtual event is definitely not the same as being there physically.
In a post-COVID-19 world, certain business trends and individual preferences that started during the pandemic will remain. And the MICE industry will have to adapt new processes to ensure that the most updated set of measures are in place at the event. This can include:-
The MICE industry is a people-oriented business. The fundamentals will remain as we emerge from COVID-19. This segment of the hospitality industry will bounce back – later than sooner, and, when it does, MICE will be in business.
The above article is from our video series “19-Hospitality Related Questions on Covid-19", which can be viewed on our Youtube channel here Why not take a moment to share your experience with us, or if you have a question you'd like answered, get in touch through reachus@hospitalitysrilanka.com We hope to hear from you, and in the meantime, check out our social media feeds on Facebook and Instagram.
Shafeek Wahab - Editor, Hospitality Sri Lanka
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