Is Taiwan’s MICE business able to problem main gamers in Asia?

Taiwan leverages tech, tradition, and venues to draw extra MICE occasions.

Asia Pacific’s MICE business, valued at over $180b, is estimated to develop at a compound annual development price of 10% from 2024 to 2030, in keeping with market analysis agency Grand View Analysis.

Thus, Taiwan is solidifying its place as a key regional participant by leveraging know-how to reinforce its MICE capabilities, implementing coaching applications 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. Carried out by the MICE Undertaking Workplace and sponsored by the Worldwide Commerce Administration, MEET TAIWAN is a supplier of a variety of MICE-related providers.

As a part of the group’s advertising technique this yr, MEET TAIWAN showcased the nation’s prime MICE cities specifically Taipei, Taoyuan, Taichung, Tainan and Kaohsiung. With MEET TAIWAN performing as a window into the nation, the group hopes to draw extra worldwide MICE occasions underneath their banner in a bid to compete with different high-profile MICE markets in Asia like China, Japan, and Singapore.

Evolving technique

In keeping with Taiwan Exterior Commerce Growth Council (TAITRA) statistics, COMPUTEX, one of many greatest annual pc expos on the earth, held in June attracted a complete of 85,000 attendees throughout the four-day occasion. It is a 70 p.c enhance in comparison with final yr’s attendees.

This showcases Taiwan’s draw as a premier MICE vacation spot while additionally emphasising the rising demand within the MICE business.

For MEET TAIWAN, one of many greatest challenges for them is the retention price. Extra usually, organisers transfer their conferences or occasions to totally different venues and markets. TAITRA and MEET TAIWAN acted on this by strengthening the distinctive side 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 all the time has one thing new to supply.

Take, for instance, the Kaohsiung Exhibition Middle. As of June 2024, it has hosted 24 exhibitions, 15 conferences, and eight occasions. The centre has developed a wise venue that provides a devoted 5G non-public community check house known as Dwelling Area. This check house permits startups to check, validate, and show revolutionary 5G software applied sciences in actual time inside a large-scale setting.

The venue additionally launched a number of revolutionary 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. Moreover, using applied sciences like 5G cellular digital shuttle buses, 3D 4K digital negotiations, and AI real-time multilingual translation has considerably enhanced the effectivity and expertise for all individuals.

In the meantime, the Worldwide Conference Middle 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 simple to reconfigure or broaden to satisfy future wants.

The design idea of ICC Tainan is predicated on Tainan’s native traits, that includes “Marine Civilization,” “Historic Capital,” and “Inexperienced Vitality Expertise.” The centre is split into three interconnected buildings

First is the Exhibition Corridor which incorporates a 12-metre excessive, column-free, large-span design, accommodating as much as 600 customary cubicles or conferences with as much as 10,000 attendees; a Convention Corridor with rooms with various capacities from 1,000 to 800, to 100 and even as much as as little as 50.

The Parking Constructing, in the meantime, gives 550 automobile parking areas and 464 out of doors motorbike parking areas, with an extra 250 expandable automobile parking areas.

ICC Tainan emphasises structural effectivity with high-performance metal cable trusses, superior vitality and water administration programs, and versatile, adaptable areas

The initiative to enhance Taiwan’s MICE business 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 Undertaking launched by the Taiwan Worldwide Commerce Administration (TITA).

Labour shortages

While Taiwan is making vital strides in leveraging superior know-how to reinforce its MICE business, addressing the human aspect is equally important.

Because the MICE business in Asia Pacific continues to develop, robust demand for labour and addressing expertise gaps has been a relentless problem.

To deal with this, MEET TAIWAN made nice efforts in advertising 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 all for or already working within the business to additional their training. These measures goal to draw extra expertise to the MICE business, successfully mitigate labour shortages, and encourage people to decisively select careers on this subject.

The group can be composed of expert people permitting them to supply MICE providers primarily based on particular person necessities and have considerable contact assets, together with Taiwan Commerce Facilities abroad, native suppliers, and connections with governmental items.

Two extra convention centres, the Messe Taoyuan and the Taichung Worldwide Conference and Exhibition Middle, are set to open by 2025

MEET TAIWAN goals to showcase the distinctive strengths of every metropolis by the MICE hall initiative. By enhancing every metropolis’s MICE capabilities, Taiwan is poised to draw extra worldwide occasions, solidifying its standing as a premier MICE vacation spot in Asia.