Historical prespective of the mice industri

Organizer and Sponsor

TOPIC

Jl IKPN Bintaro No 1, Pesanggrahan, Tanah Kusir, Jakarta, Special Capital Region of Jakarta 12330, Indonesia

Historical Prespective of the MICE Industri

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Meetings in ancient times were discussions of communal interests. Cities acted as focal points. Rome, for example, had its Roman Forum and Comitium. In Latin, conferentia means “to bring together” while auditorius means “a place to listen.”

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The industrialization of the late 1 th to early 2 th century increased the need for business meetings. There were also meetings on political, religious and recreational issues. Associations also began to include annual meetings. In Europe, the history of conventions began with the Congress of Vienna in 1814-15. There was very little convention th activity in the 20 century until the 1950s due to the influence of the two World Wars. The conventions industry began in the 1950s because of:

• An expansion in government organizations• A growth in multinational corporations and agencies• Developments in association interests, professional and pressure groups• Changes in sales techniques, including the use of product launches and sales promotion meetings• Need for in-company management training, continuing professional development and attendance

at ad hoc or scheduled meetings;• Development of subject specialization, with conferences enabling an expert to pass on information

to a large number of peripherally involved colleagues In 1902, the first formal incentive travel programme was set up by the National Cash Register (NCR), a U.S. company. By the 1960s, long-distance incentive trips overseas came into view. Nowadays, incentives evolved into events, commonly held overseas, specially designed to attract people to achieve a specific goal. Sometimes, training activities would also be included. Because of the expense involved, incentive activity is tied to economic cycles. Companies who generate a lot of revenue during good times can organize longer trips at more expensive resort hotels with higher-priced meals.

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Countries and cities (municipalities) emphasize heavy investment in infrastructure development to support industry development. National and local convention bureaus were set up to actively promote their countries and cities as travel destinations. There are also improved industry representation and co-ordination with the set-up of organizations such as the Professional Conference Management

iiAssociation (PCMA), Meeting Professionals International (MPI) and more. In the United States, Detroit established the first convention bureau, a government authority to promote and manage conventions, in 1896. This was followed by many other cities in the early 1900s after witnessing the benefits convention brought to the city. The International Association of Convention Bureau (IACB) was established in 1914. IACB was then reformed to become the International Association of Convention and Visitor Bureau (IACVB) in 1974. From 2004, the IACVB turned into the Destination Marketing Association International. The number of convention bureaus in 1920 was 28. Today, there are almost 600convention and visitor bureaus in 25 countries.

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Europe and North America still play the leading role in the world convention and exhibition market in terms of number of events, but the convention and exhibition industry in Asia has shown stronger-than-average growth since the 1960s. The number of conventions in Asia-Pacific increased 124% from 1980 to 1996. The industry accounts for more than 39% of business trips and takes in 48% of business travellers.

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