MICE Marketing and Marketing Communications - Research Paper Example

MICE Marketing Research and Marketing Communications by A Destination Management Organization Meetings, incentives, conferences and exhibitions (MICE) is an acronym for thee tourism in which large groups of people come, or are brought together for a particular and specific objective. MICE is often planned very well and in advance. Incentive tourism is a unique package whereby an outstanding employee is rewarded because of targets met or exceeded. MICE tourism has a well-planned agenda revolving around a theme or topic and is highly specialized. A Convention Bureau (BU) is tasked with bidding and marketing the specific country or city and can sometimes offer lucrative offers to attract more people. Introduction My case study is on Bangkok. Noted as one of the five best conventions cities worldwide, Bangkok has hosted an array of events in the recent past. In2012, the MICE industry featured 9.4% of Thailand’s tourism earnings making an estimated 0.58% of the country’s GDP. In 2012, the country hosted 7300 meeting events marking a 6.9% increase from 2011. This was contributed by conventions, corporate meetings and incentive travel respectively. About 60% of Thai’s MICE business is transacted with Asian countries with India and China taking the 1st and 2nd position respectively. Under the office of the Prime Minister, the Thai government created Thailand Convention and Exhibition Bureau (TCEB) which sought to design 5 major MICE cities namely Bangkok, Khon Kaen, Chiang Mai, Phuket and Pattaya (Liedete, 2003) Comparison of two source markets which could be sought by TCEB In order to realize the most potential market TCEB would consider conducting a PESTEL analysis. PESTEL is an acronym for political, economic, social, technological, environmental and legal factors. These macroeconomic factors have a profound effect on a given market source. The political factor considers political stability, foreign trade policy, tax policies and general political relations between the countries (Briggs, 2001). Economic factors on the other hand touch on the foreign exchange, interest rates and inflation as at that time. Technological, social and legal factors also affect the source markets of the destination. Save for the protestors and demonstrators here and there, Bangkok has a good political environment. In 2012 and with close to 22000 delegates, the United States was ranked 8th among Thai’s source markets. Growth in participation of the US is expected to be higher compared to the UK. In 2011, through TripAdviser, US and UK travelers voted Bangkok as the best value global city in the world. This shows that the two are very promising prospective source markets. Bangkok prides itself with 299 world class hotels and 7 world standard convention and exhibition centers making it competent to handle every traveler’s needs and being Thai’s capital, it is the economic and political hub of Thailand (Askew, 2004). Most international meetings, seminars and convention occur here. The healthy ties between Thailand and the US cemented by a meeting between Thai’s Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra and US Army General Martin. E. Dempsey on June 2012 further boosts the bilateral cooperation. Thailand and the US also cohost the Cobra Gold, began in 1980, with the meetings held in the two countries. There is a new center for military development proposed in Thailand due to its ‘strategic and extraordinary position”. The Cobra Gold convention attracts participants such as Japan, Indonesia and South Korea. With such cooperation and close partnership between US and Thai, the MICE events can only draw an upward trajectory. For the average US and UK traveler, Thai has a magical travel experience with foreign and local twist brought about by foreigners who visit the country, cultural and foreign exhibitions and food ‘simply out of this world’ (Hanna, 2003). Matthew Kepnes, an American blogger who runs NomadicMatt.com, quit his job and decided to start a travelling career after visiting Bangkok. In his “11 reasons why I love Thailand”, and its subsequent reviews, Kepnes explains why every American should make Thailand a lifetime destination. Strategies to market Bangkok Marketing, in its sister branch advertising, equips the consumer with information crucial to them. The most important measure of marketing Bangkok is easing the insecurity threats to the international community in Bangkok (Hall, 2003). Although unrests have not greatly affected the number of tourists due to other factors such as individual taste and resilience in the city, the security scare has had an overall effect on Bangkok’s tourism sector (King, 2009). The Thai government has successfully tried to ensure relative calmness and stability for the average traveler. Establishment of TCEB by the Royal Thai government in 2002. TCEB bids for, and links the source market with credible and accurate information concerning Bangkok and the other 5 destinations it created. TCEB can take advantage of the new tourism craze in India and China who choose Thai to be their preferred destination. Thai is also closely related to the two and has what it takes to be the ultimate Asian tourist magnet. Currently, tourisms from the 2 countries visiting Thai stands at roughly 60 per cent. TCEB can liaise with the prospective countries to boost their participation. Healthy public relations can also create good “brand ambassadors”. Bangkok can offer incentives to selected representatives market. Marketing strategy involving human- human encounters bears more fruits than just virtual advertising. The case of Matthew Kepnes above illustrates this form of indirect advertising. Bangkok needs to outsource and indeed invite more travel experts the world over to “go tell the world”. They say a good product markets itself. Maintenance of the royal palaces and the museums create a viable destination for tourists the world over. For example, the Grand Palace has housed Thailand’s monarchs for over 200 years and the historic temples and museum. The Museum of Siam focuses on the inherent national identity of people of Thailand and specifically Bangkok. TCEB can accord any person visiting the areas for research or educational purposes preferential treatment or incentives such as rate cuts, language interpreters and free travel guides. Incentives offered for its citizens can go a long ways in boosting the numbers. The prominence of domestic tourism cannot be underestimated. In 2010, The Department of Tourism recorded over 26 million Thai visitors and 11.4m foreign visitors to Bangkok. Incentives project an exponential increase in the number of both domestic and foreign tourists. Investing in a better website and online presence across regions and destinations can have tremendous effects. In today’s world, the first place tourists search for a travel destination is the internet. The current Bangkok destination website has tried to integrate massive social media campaigns namely Twitter, YouTube and Facebook updated frequently to gauge the popularity of a destination online. With the use of Search Engine Optimization (SEO), a better job at linking Bangkok’s travel calendar with more than one website can be helpful (Goldsmith, 2012). A great example of social media use is depicted in UK’s LoveUKfacebook page that allows travelers check on Facebook. Rather than relying on embassies to market its tourism, Bangkok could attend related key markets such as UK, USA, and Italy and in Middle East like China. TCEB is also encouraged to collaborate with neighboring countries like Malaysia to market the Asian region (Bennett, 2001). The governments can stop treating tourism as a zero sum game because of the spillover effects of a region’s situation to an individual country. Marketing action steps: step method Target customer Number 000 details No.of days 1 Online advertising Local and foreign 10000 locals, all others Survey their satisfaction online, give comp. to unsatisfied ones Over a year 2 Brochures and magazines locals 50 Publish a Bangkok tourism magazine monthly 3 Media Both international and local An infinite number depending on the countries Survey customer response through visits and feedback Over a year 4 Local Exhibitions Mostly locals 50000 locals Sales people have a week long interaction with locals to get 1st hand info. 5 Brand ambassadors Local and international Over 100000 Learning about what locals would want from Bangkok for 2 weeks 6 Attending foreign exhibitions US, Japan, China, Malaysia 700000 Conclusion Bangkok needs to boost its infrastructural facilities. For example, whereas pick-up taxis are not a part of the modern world, they are commonly used in Bangkok. Environmental conservation measures too need a boost. All in all, Bangkok remains a lucrative destination for travelers seeking a place to live, do business or even invest in East Asia and can only get better with the addressing of the challenges. The research was carried out by visiting websites such as NomadicMatt.com, references from books and enquiring from friends. I would like to thank my good friend, Lucy Keen, for drilling the interest in Bangkok in me and supplying me with firsthand information about Bangkok. References Peggy Teo,. Chang 2001. Interconnected worlds: Tourism in South and Southeast Asia, Chicago Press, New York. Michael Hall 2012. Tourism in Southeast Asia, OUP, London. Marc Askew 2004. Bangkok: Place, Practice and Representation, Bangkok Press, Bangkok. Stephen. P. Hanna 2003. Mapping Tourism, Heinemann Press, Chicago. Victor. T. King, Michael Hitchcock 2009. Tourisms in South East Asia: Challenges and New Directions, Harvard Press, London. Ronald Earl Goldsmith 2012. Strategic Marketing in Tourism Services, New York Press, New York. Bennett J.A 2001. Introduction to Travel and Tourism Marketing, California Press, LA. Susan Briggs 2001. Successful Tourism Marketing: A Practical Handbook, OUP, London. Deepak Chhabra 2010. Sustainable Marketing of Cultural and Heritage Tourism, Mumbai Press, Mumbai. Read More