BACOLOD City – The Tourism Promotions Board (TPB) tasked this city to host the 2018 MICE (Meetings, Incentive Travel, Conventions, and Exhibitions) Conference (MICECON) in August.
Bacolod bagged the hosting after a bidding process that started in early January. One of the hosting requirements is that the venue should be a “leading urban tourism destination possessing state-of-the-art hospitality and meeting facilities.”
TPB Chief Operating Officer Cesar Montano handed the certificate of award to Mayor Evelio Leonardia at the TPB office in Manila on April 18, according to the city government’s Public Information Office.
MICE represents specialized sectors of business and industry that require higher standards of tourism services and facilities.
MICECON consolidates and strengthens all sectors involved in the MICE industry by providing an ideal platform for a comprehensive educational program and trade opportunity for MICE and tourism practitioners.
It likewise aims to showcase new developments, establishments and products in the host city, increase the levels of creativity and professionalism, and further upgrade capabilities of the host city in targeting and handling the MICE market.
The first MICECON was hosted by Subic in 2010. After that, it was hosted by Cebu (2011), Davao (2013), Clark (2014), and Manila (2015).
It is the biggest gathering of the country’s influential professionals and practitioners involved in MICE, said Councilor Em Ang, who accompanied Leonardia at the TPB.
“Approximately 600 participants from the MICE industry are expected to attend,” said the chairwoman of the Sangguniang Panlungsod Committee on Tourism. “Airlines, hotels, resorts, convention centers, event organizers, and exhibit organizers are just some of the participants.”
Ang said MICECON will be beneficial to the tourism of Bacolod and Negros Occidental as it helps promote the travel destinations and local products of the host city and nearby areas.
Leonardia believes the hosting “can catapult our city to unprecedented heights of the tourism industry.”
“The infrastructure, support services and amenities make Bacolod ideal for our event,” Montano wrote Leonardia.
He said Bacolod’s hosting “will provide a tremendous boost to the city’s growing tourism industry and support your objective of promoting the City of Smiles as a MICE Destination.” (With a report from Bacolod City PIO/PN)
