Experts call for increased focus on incentives segment in UAE

Asim Arshad, CEO, Orient travel and Tourism Agency LLC, Daniel Ponzo, General Manager, Al Rostamani Travel and Holidays, Haytham Sadek, CEO, AL Shamel Travel and Praveen Gandhi, Executive General Manager-Travel Division, Kanoo Travel during the MICE Arabia Congress at the Palazzo Versace in Dubai on Tuesday, March 1, 2016.

 There needs to be a greater focus on the incentives segment in the UAE, as the market has failed to mature as fast as the events and business travel segments, experts at the MICE Arabia Congress noted on Tuesday.
Speaking at a session on the first day of the event, Daniel Ponzo, general manager at Al Rostamani Travel & Holidays, said that while the Meetings Incentives Conferences and Exhibitions, or Mice segment in the UAE has matured, the incentives segment was lagging behind. "The Mice segment over the last five years in the UAE has grown at a rate of five per cent, and is worth over $950 million. 44 per cent of this is contributed by the meetings and events segments, 38 per cent is exhibitions, 12 per cent is conferences, and only six per cent is through the incentives segment," he said.
He explained that the incentives segment needed to be promoted and that there were a lot of opportunities to do so in the region. Asked if the Mice segment would continue to grow in the region, he revealed that he expected it to continue growing at a CAGR of seven per cent in the coming years. The meetings, events and conferences sectors would continue to contribute the majority of the growth, he added. Asim Arshad, CEO of Orient Travel & Tourism Agency, said that tourism and business travel contributed a sizable portion of the UAE's GDP and that he expected the number of both leisure and business travelers to increase in the coming years, as the market matures. He also talked about the quality of the MICE segment in the UAE, and how it had remarkably evolved over the years. "The quality of the exhibitions and conferences hosted in Dubai has been very impressive and is on par with some of the best international players," he said.
Arshad also said that while Dubai was still not the best MICE destination in the world, it was making good progress towards achieving that title. "The innovation and creativity that has been shown by many of the players in the region, has much to do with how well positioned the MICE industry is today and we can see that the future is bright."
- rohma@khaleejtimes.com