Life> Travel

Suzhou's future: a great MICE destination

By Tang Tang (China Daily)
Updated: 2011-06-22 12:43

A panoramic night view of Suzhou, in Jiangsu province, provides a spectacular example of the city's charm.[Photo/China Daily]

Huang Qin, vice-mayor of Suzhou, taking part in the opening ceremony of the exhibition and conference association.[Photo/China Daily]

Michael Chen (left), CEO of the Suzhou International Expo Center and head of the new association, receiving a certificate.[Photo/China Daily]

The city of Suzhou, in Jiangsu province has turned its focus to meetings, conferences, and exhibitions, to improve its traditional business model, which formerly only focused on the ordinary tourist business.

It has benefited from an increase in the number of exhibitions and conferences it holds, and the guests these have drawn.

And, since the city is known for its history and natural landscape it expects the meetings, incentive (travel), conference, and exhibition/event business (MICE) to have a bright future.

Suzhou now finds itself as a leader in promoting this business model and it is making every effort to build itself into an even more desirable destination.

Its exhibition industry has also garnered support from the central government and Jinji Lake, in the city's industrial park, has become an industry model in China. Having this model unit will give the city an important place in the exhibition sector in the near future.

The city government set up an exhibition/conference association to deal with all this on June 17, with Michael Chen, from the Suzhou International Expo Center, appointed president.

The more the exhibition industry grows, the more the city's people can see that large exhibitions and conferences bring big economic benefits. And these are not just limited to profits for the organizers, because a large event can benefit other companies in the services business such as hotels and restaurants. The profits can run into the millions of yuan in just a few days.

As Wei Xiaoan, a tourism industry specialist, explained at a MICE seminar on June 17, in Suzhou for representatives of Chinese cities, one conference in Shanghai with 3,000 participants brought the city more than $100 million worth of benefits.

Wei pointed out that one thing that makes this industry different from the ordinary tourism industry is that companies cover most of the expenses. So, if costs are high, they are spread out more along the entire business chain. In addition, some analysts say, the average profit margins are higher than for ordinary tourism.

This concept is an adaptation of a Western model, where large companies have learned to organizing incentive trips for their employees.

It is especially popular in Singapore, Vietnam, and similar countries. The Singapore government, in fact, has spent 90 million Singapore dollars ($72.64 million) supporting local companies who participate in the MICE program.

Media there have reported that 30 percent of Singapore's visitors in 2007 came in connection with this industry, and that related business was worth more than 5 billion Singapore dollars.

This concept has been promoted in China in recent years, but it is still at an early stage. That's partly because its standards in service quality are higher than those in the ordinary tourist business, and the industry has some strict requirements.

So, people will not only need to be able to organize events but also be able to cooperate with the various parts of the business chain to provide that better service.

Industry analysts have reported that Suzhou had more than 70 million tourists in 2010, which generated around 100 billion yuan ($15.5 billion). That figure is expected to rise as the number of people coming for MICE-related activities increases.

This solid industrial background and good reputation will mean that the companies involved will get the best services available.

And the city has many leading companies, including the State-owned Suzhou International Expo Center, and its subsidiary the Suzhou Glory Exhibition Co Ltd. These two, together, have an abundance of expediencie in the exhibition and conference business, so their long-term cooperation with international companies assures a higher standard of service.

To attract more people in the business, the Suzhou government has looked for ways to make the environment more comfortable and it currently has five top exhibition centers, covering 210,000 square meters of floor space.

In addition, it has six large conference centers, 23 five-star hotels, including the Shangri-La and Marriott, and around 100 four-star hotels providing impressive support for the exhibition business.

And, the number of international conferences and exhibitions in the city have shown a corresponding increase. Two prominent examples were the 28th World Heritage Conference and Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation meeting for finance ministers.

Suzhou got its start in the business back in 2002, when it organized the Electronics Manufacturing Exposition (EMEX), and it has seen good growth since that time.

Its infrastructure, economic development, traffic arrangements, and culture and travel resources are certain to help the conference business.

The new international expo center opens a new chapter in the exhibition industry in Suzhou, giving it greater capacity for international conferences.

After taking all the above factors into account, Suzhou has said it is looking at holding 150 large conferences and exhibitions annually, with 1.5 million square meters of exhibition space, and enough related service companies.

True, the competition is fierce in China - many cities have built mega exhibition centers. But the exhibition organizers in Suzhou are still confident and have a relatively comfortable position.

Their own exploration of the exhibition business and their own approach to it, have produced some outstanding results. When we throw in the good relationship with the government it is a sure recipe for success in the large exhibition business.