MICE Planning Techniques for Incentive Travel Professionals

Planning Coordination is Key

When you plan a MICE event, you will be working with many other event professionals. Most of these elements will have to get scheduled and confirmed weeks or even months in advance. These include:

• Hotel managers
• Conference center managers
• Tour operators
• Food and beverage companies
• Trade organizations
• Local destination management companies and/or the local chamber of commerce
• Group travel specialists

When working with the personnel mentioned above, the challenge for you will be to coordinate to ensure you have all the features of a MICE event. Maintain constant communication with these professionals and set expectations early so you won’t be scrambling as the trip nears.

Additional MICE Elements

MICE event promotion is slightly different for incentive travel. For MICE incentive travel, you need to implement travel promotions:

Incentive travel destinations are primarily chosen based on the anticipated participation and enjoyment of guests. For example, if your meeting attendees live and work in a colder climate, the incentive may be to host a conference in a tropical location. This will provide the incentive for your attendees to schedule the trip.

When planning incentive travel, you may see that it typically involves more destinations than other MICE trips. This is because corporate event planners have to meet an organizer’s requirements at the host city. This can include policies requiring accommodation for a specific number of attendees in nearby hotels.

Group activities are another big element of incentive travel. These activities are usually destination-specific such as cultural tours or outdoor adventures. The bleisure market is growing every day, therefore, if you offer group travel excursions along with your conference, it will be an incentive for more attendees.

Event budget is based primarily on signups for the MICE event. With incentive travel, it is usually a sponsor that absorbs most of the costs. However, occasionally sponsors split the budget with an event travel management company.

As an event professional, your goal is to give your attendees the best experiences you can while controlling costs. You will have to consider many preferences for your attendees including lodging and activities that will motivate them to attend your conference.

Incentive travel is a key component in the MICE industry. Traveler’s Q has event planners that can assist you in planning your next corporate trip and guide you into the future of event travel. Contact Traveler’s Q today for all your event management needs.