The consulting and professional services firm BRAINTRUST, a leader in the tourism industry, has presented the report on Reactivation Strategies for the meetings industry, called "Spain, where meeting builds sustainable value", at an event held at the Spanish Federation of Municipalities and Provinces in Madrid, in the presence of prominent personalities of the industry in our country.
Augusto Hidalgo, Mayor of Las Palmas de Gran Canaria and President of the Spain Convention Bureau, SCB, the Section of the FEMP that brings together the destinations that promote meeting tourism or MICE Tourism, and the Deputy Director General for Tourism Development and Sustainability of the Secretariat of State for Tourism, SETUR, Ana Muñoz Llabrés, chaired the presentation of the study on Meeting Tourism and the strategy for its reactivation, held at the headquarters of the FEMP on Wednesday.
MICE industry expected to recover around 2024
The study, financed by SETUR, covers the situation that the meetings tourism sector, MICE, is going through in our country after the pandemic, analyzes the recovery experienced during the last year and puts forward the strategic lines for its reactivation. According to the conclusions of the study, the economic impact of the MICE industry in 2019 reached 12.3 million euros. The pandemic brought a 75% drop in 2020 and an economic impact of €5,079 million in 2021. Recovery from 2019 levels could be reached, depending on the evolution of the pandemic or other events, in 2024, although after the second half of 2022 a significant take-off would be possible if the situation stabilizes.
A shared vision for the future, for an industry that is an example and model of sustainable tourism.
For Angel García Butragueño, Co-Director of the Tourism Barometer and Director of Tourism at BRAINTRUST: "There is a clear vision of where the meetings industry, the best example and model of sustainable tourism in our country, should be heading. A vision that is shared by all the actors in the value chain, both from the public and private sectors. The meetings industry in Spain must position itself as a world leader, through an innovative and scalable business model, based on public-private collaboration, placing it in a framework of sustainability, which promotes integration between the visitor and the inhabitant. It must take advantage of the vast opportunity for multi-sector business and demand growth at a global level, which the post-pandemic era will offer to destinations that know how to contribute to the purpose of the clients. The Spain brand has an incalculable value that must be transferred to the MICE segment, through the joint and collaborative work of institutions with all members of the ecosystem, customizing an excellent and innovative omnichannel experience to each user, and putting in value its wide and diverse native wealth. To this end, it will offer in its proposal the latest technology at the service of the best professionals, generating benefits for all stakeholders, while taking care of the surroundings and the environment, and maximizing the return to both the client and the territory, leaving a positive legacy in the citizenship".
Strategic framework for the reactivation of the Meetings Industry
4 strategies and 20 lines of action to reactivate a key sector for Spain's tourism and economic model
With regard to the strategy for the reactivation of this industry, which is key to our tourism and economic model, the study shows that destinations must transform and adapt to the new needs demanded by the market, which include specialization, diversification and sophistication, and transformation to become more efficient and profitable. In fact, the strategic program proposed is based on four lines of action: business assurance; reconstruction of the ecosystem; development of the new model; and measurement and continuous improvement. Each of these lines of action includes actions such as bringing the "Spain Brand" to the MICE sector, acting to preserve the environment and having the most efficient technologies at the service of the best professionals.
For José Manuel Brell, Partner in charge of the Quantitative Studies and Models practice, and of the Tourism and Leisure Industry at BRAINTRUST: "The meetings industry in Spain is at a crossroads, whose main challenge lies in the recovery of demand, while supply is transformed, the model evolves and public-private collaboration is expanded, the business is diversified and professionals are trained in new skills, necessary to address a future that is still uncertain and unpredictable, although it will generate multiple opportunities if the reactivation plan is carried out. A goal without a plan is just a wish, and from BRAINTRUST we are helping the Spain Convention Bureau and its 58 associated destinations to make this Reactivation Plan a reality, which we are very proud to have built together with the public and private sectors".
