Outbound Chinese MICE agents at AIME have dismissed reports of China’s slowing economic growth and are projecting good business this year, with increased frequency of events and attendance numbers expected.

Din Zhou, account director-corporate accounts department of China CYTS MICE (Guangdong) Service Co, observed two key areas of growth for his company.

" Large companies such as those dealing in direct selling, pharmaceuticals and insurance did well last year and are taking more attendees on incentive trips. We are seeing more than 2,000 pax per event now. There has also been a rise in small high-end incentive groups heading to longhaul destinations,” he said.

" However, with increased headcount, clients are maintaining budgets for the key event components but are cutting back on F&B, transfers and tours, so we have to change the way we plan large incentive programmes. To keep costs down, we have to use big cities with many hotels located close to large venues and where many flights are available from China. These would be cities such as Bangkok, Singapore and those in Australia.”

Enquiries and bookings for overseas conferences were strong this year, said Shanghai VR Conference Organizer senior account manager, Amanda Xu.

Budgets and attendance numbers were not expected to increase though, she noted, saying: “The domestic market may still be strong for my clients, but profits may have to fill shortcomings in the European or American markets, so decision-makers are still cautious about how they spend on events this year.”

Good prospects in the outbound MICE segment, driven especially by local companies starting to adopt incentive practices, have also motivated Beijing’s Deluxe MICE Tour to expand its destination offerings for meetings and incentives. It is planning to set up a website showcasing five-star hotels and surrounding attractions and venues across the world.

However, the escalation of outbound MICE demand has brought on greater competition among China’s MICE agencies. Zhou said some rivals were slashing prices to win accounts.