MICE gala celebrates Taiwan industry achievers

2015/12/23

The annual Taiwan Exhibition and Convention Association gala took place Dec. 21 in Taipei City, recognizing the movers and shakers of the local meetings, incentives, conventions and exhibitions industry.

Attended by more than 600 guests such as government officials and members of the Taiwan-based diplomatic corps, the event spotlighted many of the biggest MICE industry successes for the year.

TECA President Walter Yeh, who doubles as executive vice president of Taiwan External Trade Development Council (TAITRA), said the hard work and can-do attitude of leading Taiwan MICE players was recognized with a strong national performance at the Asian Federation of Exhibition and Convention Associations Awards last month in Kuala Lumpur.

“TAITRA and Taipei Computer Association won the Outstanding Trade Exhibition Award for Computex Taipei, while the Taiwan chapter of AIESEC bagged Outstanding Convention Congress Award for its 2014 international gathering.”

Taiwan’s MICE industry is going from strength to strength. In 2014, it staged 145 events, up from 122 the year before. This saw the country move up three spots to fourth behind the top three of Japan, mainland China and South Korea in the latest Asia rankings compiled by Amsterdam-based International Congress and Convention Association.

“Such growth is one of the reasons Taiwan won the rights to host the 2021 Rotary International Annual Convention,” Yeh said, adding that the headline event is expected to attract 36,000 visitors from home and abroad and significantly boost the country’s hospitality and tourism sector.

According to TECA, the association is not resting on its laurels. Next year, it will upgrade the professionalism of Taiwan MICE industry talents by sending more of them to the U.S. for exhibition management certification offered by the renowned International Association of Exhibitions and Events.

“This is just one of several initiatives we have in the pipeline,” Yeh said. “Other measures include deepening Taiwan’s ties with leading MICE markets via our recent memorandums of understanding with Indonesia, Italy, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore and Thailand.

“There is every reason to look forward to healthier bottom lines and a bigger slice of the global MICE pie in what is shaping up as a lucrative 2016.”

Source: Taiwan Today (http://taiwantoday.tw/ct.asp?xItem=240547&ctNode=2194&mp=9)