Despite the recent trade war conflicts and economic fluctuations, the Event Industry in China has been radically evolving. Also known as MICE (Meetings, Incentives, Conferences and Exhibitions), the market grows one-third and 29% every year. With the B2B Marketplace offering a huge platform to businesses and entrepreneurs, more than 138.5 million domestic and foreign trips take place annually for MICE purposes. Business travellers coming to China spent 110 billion US$ in just 2018 for attending MICE meetings.
According to a report, China has become the world’s 8th largest meeting destination, with over a thousand conferences, trade fairs and exhibitions taking place every year. Due to the government’s efficiency measures and cost-effective plans, many industry giants from all around the world choose China as their ideal meeting ground. This in return, profits the local Event Industry, generating tons of revenue and creating more international demand for businesses in China.
The Event Industry with its success also benefits a number of other industries including airline, hotel industry, tourism and businesses overall. From the estimates, China’s hotel industry is expected to reach a 100 billion$ revenue by 2023, offering 6.3 million rooms to people travelling from abroad and within the region. In addition, with developing tourism and China B2B platforms, the government is also investing in building more hotels, convention centers and other exhibition venues in both major and Tier 2 Chinese cities.
Event Industry and Incoming Challenges
Despite scaling up to a record high, MICE still faces many challenges that hinder most parts of its growth. Firstly, the industry is facing major cutbacks since 2013. After the government prohibited the official to spend public funds on constructing hotels, many of them have sacrificed stars from their ratings. As a result, over 56 Chinese hotels stooped down to the lowest of their star ratings.
Another challenge that MICE faces is the slower return of profits. In a country where urbanization and digitalization have promoted China B2B trade sites, many services that require investment don’t result in immediate profits. Despite the developments, the Event Industry does not give quick results as compared to other industries. Lastly, with rapid construction projects and expansion, the industry does not follow any of the environmental practices. There is less recycling and composting involved making it more harmful for the environment.
Future Prospects
As they say, every challenge leaves behind an opportunity. While the industry is still in its growing phase, the Chinese government and industry experts believe there is a lot of work to do in the coming future. So far, the number of profitable events organized have seen a drastic increase from 49.9 per cent to 59.7 per cent. Despite the government cuts, private businesses continue to invest in and bring in more B2B buyers and suppliers to boost the industry. As foreign trade in the country will grow, the need for meetings, conferences and trade exhibitions will grow as well as bringing more productivity and higher employment opportunities in the region.
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