Macau’s MICE Industry Sees Growth, Eyes Diversification

The Macau industry for meetings, incentives, conferences, and exhibitions, or MICE, is showing signs of expansion. In the first quarter of 2024, there was a 31.2% year-over-year rise in events.

On the other hand, fewer events were held overall this quarter than the one before (December 2023).

307 MICE events were held in the first three months, bringing in around MOP$900 million (US$112 million) for the non-gaming industry—a striking increase of more than 50% year over year.

Meetings and conferences made up the bulk of these events (289), with an astounding 39.1% rise in attendance to 34,000.

It’s interesting to note that the data balances smaller events (less than 50 attendees) and larger conferences (more than 200 attendees), with the latter expanding at a rate of 58.6%.

The number of viewers dropped by 18.3% to 143,000, despite a little rise in exhibitions to 12. Nonetheless, there was still a strong international presence, with over half (50.5%) of the professional visitors and almost 39% of exhibitors coming from outside of Macau.

Programs for reward travel had a rise in events (to six), but a decrease in participants (31.5%), to 1,575.

“Commerce & Management” was the most popular theme for MICE events, with 127 events; this was followed by “Finance” (39), “Information Technology” (36), and “Medical & Health” (26).

According to this data, Macau’s MICE industry is growing, attracting more events and fostering a more diverse group of attendees.

Even though there were fewer events overall than the previous quarter, the overall growth trend and gains in meeting and conference income and participant counts provide an optimistic picture.

Original Story by: Inside Asian Gaming