Also growing from strength to strength have been two smaller destinations across the Atlantic in the United States – Norfolk, Virginia and Raleigh, North Carolina – gaining something of a reputation in the MICE industry through their own success in attracting events. For Norfolk, even the presence of the watery Atlantic itself has been a key element of the strategic push for MICE events.
“We aggressively position Norfolk as a vibrant and accessible waterfront destination that hosts a variety of wine, culinary, music and art festivals throughout the year, and offers a range of on-the-water activities,” said Erin Filarecki, Media Relations Manager at VisitNorfolk in Virginia, USA. “It is surrounded by the Elizabeth River, Atlantic ocean and Chesapeake Bay, so no matter where you are in the city you are never far from water.”
Whilst understanding and promoting the USPs of the city to attract events, Norfolk also actively outreaches to other cities and key organisations to ensure it can benefit from best practice and latest industry research to stay ahead of the curve.
“VisitNorfolk works with similar cities on state, regional and national sales and marketing efforts and all entities understand that there are times for us to work together and there are times when we compete,” said Filarecki. “Industry organisations such as MPI and PCMA provide educational opportunities and Destination Marketing International, which is the governing body of DMOs, provide additional opportunities for information sharing and learning opportunities.”
“We also receive a tremendous amount of political support from the local and regional level, support that is imperative for our success,” she added. “From this support our award-winning sales, marketing and convention services team then works hard to meet the needs of each and every group.”
In Raleigh, North Carolina there is a similar extent of hard work taking place, this time focusing on a slightly different strategy for attracting MICE events.
“We have a ‘connectors’ programme, whereby we find local business contacts in the appropriate markets to give us support for bringing programs they are related to,” said Jana Rae Oliver, Director of Sales at the Greater Raleigh Convention and Visitors Bureau. “For example, North Carolina State professors supported us in our successful quest to bring the ‘International World-Wide Web’ conference here. We also have here a Research Triangle Park, which is a mecca of specialists in many facets of technology, medical and pharma business. We can therefore offer world renowned speakers and specialists in our own back yard, giving the clients top quality, without travel expense to the group.”
“To help deliver our success our city and county support us through bed tax dollars collected,” she added. “It is an integral part of our budget.”
From the UK to the US and back to Europe, less populous cities as prime rather than secondary MICE destinations are in the spotlight. Taking this right back to its source the home of Aristotle make a logical conclusion and Thessaloniki, the main city of the great philosopher’s birth region of Macedonia in northern Greece, is a fitting European example. The city established its CVB in 2014, since when it has been developing its strategy for how best to make an impression on both the regional and the global MICE industry.
“The aim of the newly founded Thessaloniki Convention Bureau (TCB), set up as a non-profit organisation, is to establish the city on the global conference map,” said Efi Koudeli, General Manager of the Thessaloniki Convention Bureau. “In order to achieve that, in its first months of operation TCB has already become an active member of ICCA, taking the opportunity to gain valuable knowledge on the market and strengthen the bonds with other CVBs. To help further establish Thessaloniki in the international MICE market, TCB participates in the most important international shows, such as EIBTM in Barcelona, Conventa in Ljubljana and IMEX in Frankfurt, and the results are already extremely encouraging.”
“For our strategic plan, we are primarily aware that MICE market and buyers are seeking new destinations for their events and Thessaloniki can fulfill that demand, since it is a new destination: Thessaloniki hasn´t been represented internationally in the MICE market for the last 5 years,” she added. “What we offer is a different product; we do not compete with big capitals, such as Athens or Istanbul, rather we look for alliances with them. We offer a unique product and we focus on building our brand based on the unique features of our city, such as safety, a small scale city of compact size and another intangible feature: Thessaloniki´s own brand of easy-living spirit that puts you at ease. All of this is extremely important for event organisers and even the major venue of Thessaloniki, Helexpo, is situated in the city centre, something quite hard to find in other European destinations.”
“We are also developing our strategy together with the strategies of higher or complementary entities, such as the Greek National Tourism Organisation at the national level,” said Koudeli. “On top of that we are also have plans of working with adjoining regions, such as Halkidiki that offers spectacular beaches only one hour from the city, and also with special interest groups, such as Jewish community due to the historic Jewish past and present of the Jewish community in Thessaloniki, to enhance the offer.”
“We have a strong role in the Balkan region and in the first place we are building our alliances here,” added Koudeli. “I believe that in order to advance and to survive in the international market each destination has to create alliances and to spot the characteristics that make the product unique.”
Building the right strategy is helping the lower tier destinations to not just survive, but to thrive in today’s global MICE market, ensuring they can stand tall amongst the established giants of the industry.