Hospitality and Related Services - Tourism: Principles, Practices, Philosophies - page 142

The Society of Government Meeting Professionals (SGMP) is a national association for individuals
involved in planning government meetings and for the companies who provide facilities or services
to those planners. Their membership includes employees of federal, state, and local governments,
as well as contract meeting planners, who manage government meetings on a full- or part-time basis.
Its mission is to enhance the knowledge and expertise of government meeting professionals. Visit
www.sgmp.org .

Meetings and Conventions

By any name — whether it be conference, convention, meeting, trade show, exhibition, symposium, or

seminar this market is huge. It is crucial to the health of many communities and their hotel,

restaurant, transportation, and audiovisual businesses. Most large cities have a convention center
dedicated to hosting meetings because of the enormous economic impact. This sector is frequently
given the acronymMICE, which stands for

—

meetings, incentives, conventions, and exhibitions .The

components seem to be easily understood except for the Incentives can be powerful motivators

for employee performance and travel is a prime reward incentive. Consequently, incentive tourism is
providing travel rewards to employees who meet or exceed targets or quotas or excel in job
performance. Unlike the other components of MICE, which have a professional or educational
purpose, incentive tourism is a reward and usually conducted purely for entertainment (see Chapter 7,
''

'' I. ''

).
MICE refers to the type of tourism in which small and large groups, usually planned and
promoted in advance, are brought together for a particular purpose. The term is widely used,
especially in Asia, as a description of the industry. Others such as the Convention Industry Council
(CIC) use the term ''meetings industry'' to describe this sector. The meetings industry is huge and
booms when the economy is growing and retrenches when economic growth slows. CIC conducts an
economic impact study every five years to show the strength of the industry. The 2005 study of the
economic impact of the meetings, conventions, exhibition, and incentive travel industry was
released in September 2005. It showed the meetings industry is a 365-day-a-year business that
operates in communities, large and small, across the country. Taken as a whole, it generated $122.31
billion in total direct spending in 2004, making it the twenty-ninth largest contributor to the gross
domestic product. The industry

Incentive Travel Firms ''

s spending and tax revenue ripples through every sector of the local
economy, from restaurants and transportation to retail stores and other services, while supporting
1.7 million jobs in the United States.
In April 2010, CIC launched a new study to update the impact. The study, The Economic
Signi cance of Meetings to the U.S. Economy, was conducted by PriceWaterhouseCoopers. It was
released by the Convention Industry Council on February 17, 2011 revealing that the U.S. meetings
industry creates $263 billion in direct spending, supports 1.7 million direct jobs, results in
$14.3 billion in federal tax revenue, and $11.3 billion in state and local tax revenue. The study
considered 1.8 million meetings held in the U.S. during 2009 that met the UNWTO de nition of a
gathering of 10 or more participants for a minimum of four hours in a contracted venue. The total
economic output of these 1.8 million meetings including direct spending and multiplier
effects equals $907 billion in total U.S. economic activity, 6.3 million U.S. jobs, $458 billion
contribution to GDP, $64 billion federal tax revenue, and $46 billion state and local tax revenue.
Detailed results, a press release, an executive summary, and more about the study can be found
at www.meetingsmeanbusiness.com . 6
In discussing the meetings industry, the CIC deserves special mention. CIC is a nonpro t
federation of 31 leading U.S. and international organizations in the MICE industry. CIC

'

' smember

organizations are a of the industry, and they represent more than 103,500 indi-

viduals and 19,500 firms and properties involved in the meetings, conventions, and exhibitions
industry. CIC facilitates the exchange of information, develops programs to promote professional-
ism with the industry, and educates the public on its profound economic impact. A list of CIC

'' who ' swho ''