Meetings, incentives, conventions and exhibitions tourism (MICE) has recovered the ground lost during the serious crisis generated by the pandemic and even has very good forecasts for the next two years. Moreover, if in the midst of covid its promoters feared that virtual presence (by videoconferencing) would prevail, they now say that physical presence has won the battle. These are some of the conclusions reached yesterday by the experts who analyzed the situation of the sector at the 2nd Ibiza MICE Summit, held at the Palacio de Congresos de Santa Eulà ria.
MICE tourism sector recovering quickly
Precisely, the first round table of the day at the MICE Summit was entitled ‘Conference centers, recovery and resilience, which was moderated by Christoph Tessmar, president ICCA Iberian Chapter and director of the Barcelona Convention Bureau, with the participation of Iker Goikoetxea, director of the Kursaal in Donostia, and Marta González (sales manager of the Palacio de Congresos de Girona). “After the health crisis, fortunately we are recovering quickly and I would almost say that we are practically recovered if we take the pre-pandemic data as a reference. It has been a faster recovery than initially expected,” according to Goikoetxea.
“If we look at the short term, the macroeconomic elements worry us. A negative macroeconomic environment would affect a sector such as ours, as it did years ago with the 2008 crisis.
Despite the optimism and confidence in the MICE sector, they do not lose sight of the prevailing instability and uncertainty: “What worries us most at the moment is the macroeconomic environment, more than the effects of the pandemic, which we consider to be over, with some exceptions”. The continuous warnings about the crisis in some countries, the possible recession in Germany, Great Britain or the United States, or double-digit inflation, make them look to the future with caution. A deep crisis could hit the industry once again, as many companies would postpone or limit their presentations and congresses: “If we look at the short-term outlook, the macroeconomic elements worry us. A negative macroeconomic environment would affect a sector like MICE, as it did years ago with the 2008 crisis,” acknowledges Goikoetxea. But Tessmar considers that, “for the moment, this has not been the case”. “So far, this crisis has not yet had an impact, and it is difficult to foresee the immediate future. And if it does have an impact, we are a sector that knows how to adapt very well to any situation. That should not worry us too much now,” he says. In fact, adds Iker Goikoetxea, “the order backlog is positive. Not only has 2022 been a very good year, but 2023 and 2024 are also going to be very good in terms of order backlog. There are very good forecasts.”
“The order backlog is positive. Not only has 2022 been a very good year, but 2023 and 2024 are also going to be very good in terms of order backlog. There are very good forecasts”
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