Compared with last year's event, 30 more international purchasers were invited to attend this year's event, and well-known MICE media players including Meetings and Conventions and MICE China were included in this year's media portfolio.
SANYA, China – The 2017 Sanya International MICE Sourcing Fair and 2nd International Island (Sanya) MICE Forum kicked off on August 24th in Sanya, a tropical seaside tourist city on China’s Hainan Island. This year’s event was hosted by the Sanya government, organized by the Sanya Tourism Development Commission, and co-organized by the Sanya Tourism Association and MICE China Magazine.
More than 130 purchasers from MICE travel agencies, conference companies, PR agencies, and big companies from home and abroad were invited to attend this year’s event, and nearly 100 local MICE source and service providers from MICE companies, exhibition companies, star-rated hotels, and scenic spots in Sanya attended the fair to seek business opportunities.
Compared with last year’s event, 30 more international purchasers were invited to attend this year’s event, and well-known MICE media players including Meetings and Conventions and MICE China were included in this year’s media portfolio. The organizing committee is aiming to transform the event into the largest and most internationalized MICE event covering the most industries in the South China region.
The 2nd International Island (Sanya) MICE Forum was held at the Grand Hyatt Sanya Haitang Bay Resort on August 24th. This year’s MICE forum featured more topics and an even more impressive line-up of speakers than last year’s event. Hosted by Zhong Bing, the publisher of MICE China magazine, five MICE professionals conducted discussions during the forum on how to help Hainan become an even more popular destination for MICE travel. They were Mr. Zheng Conghui, Deputy Director of the Sanya Tourism Development Commission; Ms. Zhang Cong, General Manager of MCI Group Shanghai Pte Ltd.; Ms. Liu Ping, Managing Director of China Star Ltd.; Zhou Honghui, Vice General Manager of CMS; and Li Liang, General Manager of The Westin Sanya Haitang Bay.
It is also worth mentioning that this year, 7 MICE experts have been hired to work as consultants for Sanya’s MICE travel industry. Those consultants will use their expertise to help create more development opportunities for Sanya’s MICE travel industry and to help expand Sanya’s MICE business.
The sourcing fair was held in Mangrove Tree Resort Haitang Bay on August 25th, attended by more than 130 purchasers from home and abroad, including over 30 international purchasers from Poland, Malaysia, Singapore, Japan, France, Hong Kong, and Taiwan, and 100 domestic purchasers from Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, and Shenzhen.
As of 3:30 p.m. when the closing gong rang at the end of the sourcing fair, a total transaction amount of RMB 428.6 million had been reached between purchasers and Sanya MICE source and service providers, an increase of more than RMB 100 million over last year’s fair.
Among the transactions, 16 enterprises reached an intentional transaction amount of over RMB 8 million. The highest intentional transaction amount was RMB 65 million.
Sanya’s MICE industry enjoyed a buoyant year in 2016. Incomplete statistics showed that the city hosted 139 large-scale conferences and meetings of 1,000 attendees or above, representing a 190 percent year-on-year increase.
Sanya offers ever growing MICE capacities, first-class facilities, and resort activities. The city currently has more than 60 internationally acclaimed hotel chains spread throughout Yalong Bay, Sanya Bay, Dadonghai, and Haitang Bay, and many other brands are still coming to Sanya, providing more than 18,000 guest rooms and a total meeting area of over 90,000 square meters. Each hotel has extensive MICE facilities and resort activities, including ballrooms of various sizes for different meetings.
Angelos is the news editor for TravelDailyNews Media Network (traveldailynews.gr, traveldailynews.com and traveldailynews.asia). His role includes to monitor the hundrends of news sources of TravelDailyNews Media Network and skim the most important according to our strategy. He currently studies Communication, Media & Culture in Panteion University of Political & Social Studies of Athens.