Despite the crisis, tourism is in excellent health. Even the congressional one, which in Italy is perhaps less popular than the artistic and cultural one but which still sees us ranked sixth in the world, driven by hundreds of international events hosted, fairs, exhibitions, and by cities such as Milan, which make up 80% of their incoming.
Business travel therefore continues to make its weight felt in the balance of Italian and world tourism, and meetings and surveys related to the future of business travel and Mice (Meeting – Inventive – Conferences – Events) are multiplying, a future that already today sees some “historic” balances shifting.
The 11th edition of Imex in Frankfurt, one of the most important trade fairs dedicated to congress tourism in the world, began yesterday and will end tomorrow: about 9000 operators from every continent, active in the events, congress and incentive travel sector, will meet in the German city to present the news of the sector. An appointment that Italy could not miss, which in fact is present with the National Tourism Agency: Enit, as coordinator of the national offer, is located in pavilion 8 with the Spazio Italia which includes two corners, dedicated respectively to Rome and the Veneto region.
Andrea Babbi's general manager's agency participates in Imex with the precise aim of making Italy a privileged destination for congress tourism from all over the world, an objective to be achieved through a process of internationalization of companies in the sector. In the Enit stand there are also 58 Italian operators, including convention bureaus and product clubs, hotel chains, congress centres, PCOs and DMCs.
Even away from Frankfurt, however, this is a particularly important period for global MICE tourism. The ICCA (International Congress & Convention Association), in fact, has recently published the usual ranking of the countries with the greatest inflows deriving from MICE tourism. In a ranking that sees the United States, Germany, Spain, the United Kingdom and France in the first five positions, Italy resists in sixth place, but is increasingly pursued by Brazil, which in 2012 hosted 360 international events, with a growth of 20%. The Icca has also published the ranking by city, and in this case Italy has its best performer in Rome, in any case in twentieth place (at the top are Vienna, Paris, Berlin and Madrid).
Certainly not comforting results for the other Italian destinations, which are therefore trying to run for cover. The Toscana Promozione agency, for example, recently presented its regional Mice offer as part of an ad hoc meeting with the press and international operators. Moreover, Rimini has commissioned a research on congress tourism: the monitoring, carried out by the University of Bologna-Rimini Campus and by Professor Attilio Gardini, clearly indicates that last year this type of tourism grew by 2% for for spending in Italy and 3% for spending abroad. Specifically, the demand is made up of 47% of corporate events, 39% of conferences and seminars, 14% of professional updating meetings, 4% of cultural and religious meetings: Mice religious tourism last year had a declining trend (will the Pope Francis effect reverse the trend?), while there is growth for scientific congresses.
International competition is also becoming fiercer: the Ministry of Tourism of Israel, in fact, recently launched a new website dedicated specifically to this tourism sector: with the slogan “Israel. A place. Infinite possibilities”, the site, available in English and Russian, portrays Israel as a lively and modern country with a very wide offer in hospitality for the incentive and conference sector. Within the platform, videos, images and lots of information, including details of important service providers in the sector and those of all the tourism offices around the world. The choice of the Russian language together with the English one is by no means accidental: among the dossiers investigating the congress tourism demand from Rimini, that of Emi-Eureka Mice International, a company specialized in planning meetings for the industry, was mentioned , for which the most coveted market for congress-goers is the Russian one, with 26% of approval, while Italy follows with 20% of preferences. Not just an encouragement for our country, which however can no longer wait.
