Is Taiwan’s MICE industry ready to challenge major players in Asia?
Taiwan leverages tech, tradition, and venues to entice extra MICE occasions.
Asia Pacific’s MICE industry, valued at over $180b, is estimated to develop at a compound annual development price of 10% from 2024 to 2030, in accordance to market analysis agency Grand View Research.
Thus, Taiwan is solidifying its place as a key regional participant by leveraging know-how to improve its MICE capabilities, implementing coaching packages to bridge the expertise hole, and providing immersive experiences in Taiwanese tradition.
Central to Taiwan’s technique is MEET Taiwan, a complete MICE promotion program designed to place the nation as a premier vacation spot for worldwide occasions. Implemented by the MICE Project Office and sponsored by the International Trade Administration, MEET Taiwan is a supplier of a variety of MICE-related providers.
As a part of the group’s advertising and marketing technique this yr, MEET Taiwan showcased the nation’s prime MICE cities particularly Taipei, Taoyuan, Taichung, Tainan and Kaohsiung. With MEET Taiwan appearing as a window into the nation, the group hopes to entice extra worldwide MICE occasions below their banner in a bid to compete with different high-profile MICE markets in Asia like China, Japan, and Singapore.
Evolving technique
According to Taiwan External Trade Development Council (TAITRA) statistics, COMPUTEX, one of many largest annual laptop expos in the world, held in June attracted a complete of 85,000 attendees in the course of the four-day occasion. This is a 70 % enhance in contrast to final yr’s attendees.
This showcases Taiwan’s draw as a premier MICE vacation spot while additionally emphasising the rising demand in the MICE industry.
For MEET Taiwan, one of many largest challenges for them is the retention price. More usually, organisers transfer their conferences or occasions to completely different venues and markets. TAITRA and MEET Taiwan acted on this by strengthening the distinctive facet of Taiwan’s MICE cities by constructing distinctive venues that mix the wealthy tradition and industrial experience of every location. This ensures that each location at all times has one thing new to provide.
Take, for instance, the Kaohsiung Exhibition Center. As of June 2024, it has hosted 24 exhibitions, 15 conferences, and eight occasions. The centre has developed a sensible venue that provides a devoted 5G non-public community take a look at house known as Living Space. This take a look at house permits startups to take a look at, validate, and reveal progressive 5G utility applied sciences in actual time inside a large-scale setting.
The venue additionally launched a number of progressive functions, together with 3D interplay, AI-guided excursions, metaverse human-machine interplay, and drone warehousing. These options current a brand new built-in digital and bodily expertise to each exhibitors and guests. Additionally, using applied sciences like 5G cell digital shuttle buses, 3D 4K digital negotiations, and AI real-time multilingual translation has considerably enhanced the effectivity and expertise for all individuals.
Meanwhile, the International Convention Center Tainan (ICC Tainan) which opened in 2022, boasts versatile services that accommodate fast changes and configurations for various occasions and has a modular design, making it straightforward to reconfigure or broaden to meet future wants.
The design idea of ICC Tainan relies on Tainan’s native traits, that includes “Marine Civilization,” “Historic Capital,” and “Green Energy Technology.” The centre is split into three interconnected buildings
First is the Exhibition Hall which incorporates a 12-metre excessive, column-free, large-span design, accommodating up to 600 customary cubicles or conferences with up to 10,000 attendees; a Conference Hall with rooms with various capacities from 1,000 to 800, to 100 and even up to as little as 50.
The Parking Building, in the meantime, gives 550 automobile parking areas and 464 out of doors bike parking areas, with a further 250 expandable automobile parking areas.
ICC Tainan emphasises structural effectivity with high-performance metal cable trusses, superior power and water administration methods, and versatile, adaptable areas
The initiative to enhance Taiwan’s MICE industry utilizing these technological advances from IoT, synthetic intelligence, AR/VR, and 5G to develop digital exhibition options got here from the Expo-Tech Digital Exhibition Pilot Project launched by the Taiwan International Trade Administration (TITA).
Labour shortages
Whilst Taiwan is making vital strides in leveraging superior know-how to improve its MICE industry, addressing the human aspect is equally vital.
As the MICE industry in Asia Pacific continues to develop, robust demand for labour and addressing expertise gaps has been a relentless challenge.
To handle this, MEET Taiwan made nice efforts in advertising and marketing and expertise coaching.
MEET Taiwan launched a expertise coaching model known as “MICE Salon,” providing quite a few free programs. These programs present alternatives for these in or already working in the industry to additional their schooling. These measures purpose to entice extra expertise to the MICE industry, successfully mitigate labour shortages, and encourage people to decisively select careers in this discipline.
The group can be composed of expert people permitting them to provide MICE providers primarily based on particular person necessities and have plentiful contact assets, together with Taiwan Trade Centers abroad, native suppliers, and connections with governmental models.
Two extra convention centres, the Messe Taoyuan and the Taichung International Convention and Exhibition Center, are set to open by 2025
MEET Taiwan goals to showcase the distinctive strengths of every metropolis via the MICE hall initiative. By enhancing every metropolis’s MICE capabilities, Taiwan is poised to entice extra worldwide occasions, solidifying its standing as a premier MICE vacation spot in Asia.