Sharjah launches specialised study to boost MICE tourism sector
Sharjah Commerce and Tourism Development Authority (SCTDA) is concentrating on ambitious new efforts to improve the Meetings, Incentives, Conference & Exhibition (MICE) tourism sector of the Emirate with a specialist study aimed at enhancing the sector's role in attracting more tourists to Sharjah to show positively on the emirate's financial performance. The study likewise looks for to discuss the elements contributing to the creation of quality destinations in MICE sector.
SCTDA arranged a workshop at Sheraton Sharjah Hotel & Resort to talk about the research study being undertaken by SCTDA in collaboration with INHOCCO (International Hospitality Consulting Group). Held under the style, 'Exploring the Routes to Business Tourism in Sharjah', the workshop was led by His Excellency Khalid Jasim Al Midfa, Chairman of SCTDA, and Carl Palmlund, SVP Commercial, Senior Partner at INHOCCO Group.
A number of stakeholders and employees, including supervisors of hotels and convention centres such as Expo Centre Sharjah, Al Jawaher Reception & Convention Centre and Sharjah, and Golf & Shooting Club Sharjah went to the workshop, which looked at innovative methods to enhance MICE tourism in Sharjah.
Attending to the workshop, HE Khalid Jasim Al Midfa stated that achieving the objectives of Sharjah Tourism Vision to draw in 10 million travelers by 2021 requires the development of all tourism sectors, including MICE. "The sector plays a key function in the tourism eco-system and accounts for almost 5 percent of the overall tourist arrivals in any country and about 11 per cent of the overall income," he said.
HE Al Midfa mentioned that Sharjah is witnessing substantial development in the MICE sector which SCTDA has discovered robust response to its international promotional campaigns. "We are highlighting our clear differentials in the MICE sector, specifically as authorities throughout the world concentrate on education, training and exchange of experiences."
Carl Palmlund reviewed the information of the study adding that the strong cooperation in between the hotels and other entities in structure Sharjah's tourist facilities has actually assisted drive the development of the MICE sector. Today, the MICE sector represent US$ 150 billion in profits each year while the annual growth rate of business tourism in the UAE has taped favorable growth of 9 per cent."
Stating that international meetings and conferences kept in the Gulf region enhanced by 300 per cent over the last ten years, Palmlund said that the most important sectors for MICE tourism are education, healthcare and the conferences of governmental entities.
The workshop highlighted the capacity for Sharjah to take advantage of the quickly produced "cross-roads of the world" positioning of the UAE in addition to the country's growing trade activity to further develop its MICE potential in the worldwide market place.
Building on its present business tourism infrastructure, Sharjah has actually carried out substantial measures in the last few years to build and increase its attract leisure tourists. In order to establish the capacity of the sector even more, the workshop required measures to make use of chances to strategically boost the position of the emirate as a major MICE destination.
The workshop also evaluated the experiences of Abu Dhabi, Oman and Saudi Arabia in the development of MICE sector. At the end of the workshop, the individuals from hotels and entities carried out a survey to monitor the indictors of MICE sector growth in Sharjah.
