Taiwan climbs to 28th in global MICE rankings

2015-05-14

Taiwan improved five spots to 28th worldwide in the latest meetings, incentives, conventions and exhibitions survey by Amsterdam-headquartered International Congress and Convention Association.

A total of 145 conventions and meetings were held in Taiwan last year, up 23 from 2013 to the highest level on record. The top three places in the ICCA poll went to the U.S., Germany and Spain in that order.

This result propelled Taiwan ahead of Singapore, India and Thailand to No. 4 in Asia, trailing only Japan, 337; mainland China, 332; and South Korea, 222.

An official from the ROC Ministry of Economic Affairs welcomed May 12 Taiwan’s strong showing in the survey, attributing the improvement to the effectiveness of government initiatives since 2009 in promoting Taiwan as a top-flight MICE destination.

In terms of city performances, Taipei hosted 92 meetings, up from 78 year on year, to rank 20th in the world. The northern Taiwan metropolis eclipsed Bangkok and Tokyo to finish fifth in Asia, behind Singapore, 142; Beijing, 104; Seoul, 99; and Hong Kong, 98.

Kaohsiung in southern Taiwan also made tremendous progress, advancing globally from 159th to 101st and 31st to 17th in Asia with 23 meetings.

“In addition to the two metropolises, several local cities such as Chiayi, Hualien and Taoyuan staged important large-scale MICE events last year,” the official said, adding that this contributed to Taiwan’s higher ICCA ranking.

According to the MOEA, the MICE industry can generate economic benefits seven to 10 times the direct output of such activities for host countries.

“With Asia gradually becoming a hub for such events, Taiwan is poised to grab a bigger slice of the action given its world-class infrastructure and attractive amenities,” the official said.

“The government is leaving no stone unturned in strengthening the country’s reputation as a peerless MICE destination via a raft of related measures.”

Source: Taiwan Today (http://taiwantoday.tw/ct.asp?xItem=230358&ctNode=413)