Will Incentive Travel be possible in the same way?
We would like to start our blog section talking about the new MICE era. It’s a fact that the industry has badly suffered the COVID-19 crisis. But, as the phoenix, everyone in the industry with a positive attitude and a growth mindset, has discovered how important is reinventing yourself and recognizing when to adapt.
That is exactly what we did at MediMICE. How? Offering what many companies needed in these moments: hybrid and virtual events. But some topics remain uncertain, as sponsors and exhibitors are still struggling with virtual event value.
The global pandemic has declared the war to our former lifestyles and pretends the world to change the way it used to be. And as we all evolve, our society, the same one touched by the effects of a big health crisis, continues to look after company culture. And therefore, companies want to keep driving up morale, motivation and engagement by offering incentives.
Up until now, effective incentives were the result of a tremendous job done by MICE agencies, companies like MediMICE, which continuously supported their clients in finding the way to reward the right kind of behaviors in their organizations.
While the WTTC is still working on new protocols for tourism and the event industry, my question is: Will Incentive Travel be possible in the same way? Maybe yes and it is just a matter of time? Will we switch from big company events to rather small-petit committee meetings?
We know that MICE agencies are already busy with many bookings for the upcoming months. People love to interact face-to-face. Yet the travel restrictions and the lack of a clear global protocol makes it impossible to determine when the number of face-to-face events that we have had before will again be possible, or whether such number of face-to-face events will decrease because they are replaced by virtual events. Or maybe the main consequence is that the number of attendees for such events decrease? Will this new era for the MICE industry be the end of agencies focused on business travel? Are new and more creative skills needed to get the job done? Many questions, and probably a big variety of opinions around it, as there is not only one answer to any single question I have written here today. Still I would like to know your thoughts as professionals, stakeholders and profession mates.
CEO MediMICE
