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:-

• Facial recognition for contactless registration and entry of all event attendees and delegates
• AI-powered event platforms that scan guest badges for networking and lead generation – a useful addition to the physical business cards. 
• Deployment of ‘Social Distancing Ambassadors’ to ensure that social distancing is followed throughout the event ground.
• Reconfiguration of show floor and conference room floor plan to take into account safe distancing measures.
• Touchless dispenser for pens that uses UV light to sanitise pens for re-use.

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

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Shafeek Wahab - Editor, Hospitality Sri Lanka

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