Xiang'an to construct first-class MICE industry gathering area

Xiamen ITG MICE Group was inaugurated at the 2018 Xiamen International MICE Week in East China's Fujian province on Nov 26 to help boost the development of the MICE industry in the city.

The newly founded group will be responsible for the construction and operation of the new sports and MICE (Meetings, Incentives, Conferences, Exhibitions) town in the city's Xiang'an district.

As one of the city's key investments, the 100 billion yuan ($14.5 billion) new town will have a planned area of 6 million square meters, including a 700,000 square meter convention and exhibition center with complete supporting facilities, including hotels, office blocks and shopping malls.

Wang Shouwen, director of Xiamen convention and exhibition bureau, said in an interview that the current exhibition area and supporting facilities in Xiamen are no longer enough to provide services for the city's fast-growing MICE industry, a trend that is like to become more pronounced over the next five to 10 years.

Wang added that the new sports and MICE town in east Xiamen will host more exhibitions after being completed. It is expected to become a first-class MICE industry gathering area in China and will help develop Xiamen into a world-renowned MICE city.

Statistics from the local convention and exhibition bureau show that the industry will generate more than 40 billion yuan this year and host over 1.86 million attendees from outside Xiamen.

After the new convention and exhibition center is put into operation in 2022, the Xiamen bureau predicts that 60.7 billion yuan will be generated by the MICE industry and more than 3 million participants will attend the exhibitions held in the city annually.