MICE and luxury travel to the fore

This year’s edition of MICE Arabia and Luxury Travel Congress attracted more than 60 global suppliers and over 150 buyers signaling the potential of the GGC’s MICE & luxury travel market.

TT Bureau

The 5th Annual MICE Arabia and Luxury Travel Congress (MALT) concluded on a strong and positive note highlighting value-for-money, creativity and innovation as business game-changers for MICE & luxury travel from the region.

There was a positive increase in the number of suppliers representing global and emerging destinations and in the number of influencers and decision-makers from corporate organisations, travel agencies as well as luxury representatives attending the event, thereby creating an optimistic outlook for the overall development of outbound travel from the region.

It is poised to be the only MICE platform in the region to bring buyers and world class suppliers in a one-to-one format. The congress, a closed door, by invitation only platform, delivered more than 1800 mutually matched and pre-selected appointments over the two days.

“This year’s figures mirror the increase, both in confidence and business levels across major industry sectors in the GCC. We have had an exciting two days, a clear pattern of business game changers emerged over the course of the event, and these we see as imminent and important characteristics in the world of MICE and Luxury Travel. Exclusivity continues to be a defining attribute of luxury travel from the region. We are now in the process of condensing the lessons we have learnt from experts, and drafting these into action plans. There was great feedback from our participants and sponsors that will help us plan for the next edition ofthe MALT Congress,” commented Sidh N.C., Director, QnA International, Organisers of the MALT Congress.

From North America to Asia, from the African continent to Europe and the Middle East, the event boasted of suppliers from every corner of the world including but not limited to Dubai, Zurich, Davos, Switzerland, India, Japan, Italy, Montenegro, Azerbaijan, the UK, Sweden, Norway, Denmark, Croatia, Morocco, Anguilla, Dominican Republic, Sri Lanka, Thailand, Turkey, Cyprus, Greece, Seychelles, South Africa, Saudi Arabia, Georgia, France, Abu Dhabi, Singapore, Indonesia, Taiwan, California, Fort Lauderdale, China, Spain, Germany, Egypt, Jordan, Lebanon, Iceland, Tanzania, Kenya, the Philippines, Canada, and Uganda.

Interwoven in the event agenda were panel discussions, keynote presentations and round table discussions that focused on the tremendous potential of the GCC outbound market cutting across luxury, MICE and sports sectors and bought back the confidence of the suppliers in the region’s robust economy  Amna Al Hammadi, Communications Consultant, Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Co-operation, UAE, commented, “It brings experience from all around the world under one roof from corporate companies to destinations. It offers the perfect mix of exchanging knowledge and experience. The one to one meetings cover different interesting elements that can be used for future business. I thank the organisers for bringing this varied mixture of backgrounds & companies. The platform is unique and this is what motivates and encourages us to participate in the event every year “It was a very well-organised event, from the minute we got here till the end of the event, the appointments were well done, pre-qualified and very engaging. I see a good ROI coming from the event, commented another sponsor from Sofitel, Los Angeles.