Durano exhorts M.I.C.E. players: ‘Learn from Subic experience
MANILA,
Feb. 8 (PNA) -- Tourism Secretary Ace Durano has cited Subic Bay’s rise
from the ashes of the Mt. Pinatubo eruption as an example of how
stakeholders in the meetings, incentives, conventions and
exhibitions/events (M.I.C.E.) industry could tap into the $ 300-billion
global M.I.C.E. market.
“Assess
the situation and formulate appropriate strategies,” Durano exhorted
participants in the Philippine M.I.C.E. Conference 2010, an
international forum that opened on Friday at Subic Bay Exhibition and
Convention Center (SBECC) here.
“There
is always an opportunity that comes with change,” added Durano,
recounting how Subic Bay transformed itself from a wasteland into a
bustling free port, and how it is now making a name as host to local
and international events.
More
than 300 representatives from various sectors of the Philippine
M.I.C.E. industry arrived here as early as Thursday evening for the
four-day event that ends on Monday.
Durano
said M.I.C.E. players can only respond two ways to the challenges faced
by the industry: “to be like an immovable object, which eventually is
toppled by the wind, or a kite that soars higher as the wind gets
stronger.”
Subic
Bay Metropolitan Authority (SBMA) administrator Armand Arreza, who
welcomed the conference delegates, meanwhile, said that Subic has
reaped much benefits after the Subic agency decided to invest in the
M.I.C.E. industry.
He
said this decision gave rise to the 12,000-square meter SBECC, which
now boasts of having one of the best convention facilities in the
country today.
The
SBECC, which was formerly the shell of an abandoned computer parts
factory and warehouse, and refurbished by the SBMA at the cost of P350
million, has poured from $ 10 million to $ 12 million in income to the
local economy since it first opened for the 20th Philippine Advertising
Congress in 2007, Arreza said.
“Subic
Bay as a major M.I.C.E. destination has always been a dream of mine
ever since I stepped in here as administrator four years ago,” said
Arreza, a former undersecretary at the Department of Tourism.
He
added that aside from drawing participants to conventions, most of whom
also visit various tourism facilities in the locality during the
conventions, SBECC has “introduced” Subic to potential investors such
as Nestle, Coca-Cola and Phillip Morris, companies that soon decided to
open facilities in Subic after holding conferences at the local
convention venue.
“There
is a tremendous potential in M.I.C.E., and I urge everyone to get the
most out of it,” Arreza also told conference delegates, who came from
as far as as Iloilo, Davao, Cebu, Palawan, Bohol, Bacolod, Pampanga,
Aklan, and Camarines Sur.
The
four-day M.I.C.E. conference, which brought together national industry
associations, international affiliates and business networks within the
tourism industry, featured a series of presentations by international
experts in the tourism industry and media.
The
various topics shared a common theme: how local players can tap into
the growing M.I.C.E. market. Among the speakers in the conference are
Pacific Asia Travel Association chief executive Gregory Duffel, World
Tourism Organization consultant and former Tourism Secretary Mina
Gabor, Web in Travel producer and SHY Ventures editor-at-large Yeoh
Siew Hoon, International Congress and Convention Association Chief
executive Martin Shirk of The Netherlands, Malaysia-based Asian
Overland Services group managing director Anthony Wong, UK-based Regent
Exhibitions managing director Paul Flackett, and Travel Impact Newswire
executive editor Imtiaz Muqbil.
M.I.C.E.Con
2010 is the result of a historic tie-up among the Philippine Asian
M.I.C.E. Forum, which is spearheaded by the Philippine Association of
Convention/Exhibition Organizers and Suppliers, and the Philippine
Incentive Marketing Conference of the Department of Tourism, the
Philippine Convention and Visitors Corp., and the Movement of Incentive
Travel Executives. (PNA)
LOR/BAC/rsm
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