Germany
Market Update – Germany
• Number one outgoing travel market – both in terms of trips as well as overnight stays –
and is expected to increase by 3% in 2013/2014
• Number one European outgoing market for business tourism and number two European
source market for MICE trips
• Amount of meetings, overall meetings spent within organizations and number of
attendees per meeting in 2014 is expected to increase
• Driving factors for destination decision process are compliance, cost and travel time
• Other relevant factors are easy accessibility, good infrastructure and assured security
• Trends in destination decision: Challenging approval process, local events and
preference of non-traditional venues and locations
Market Characteristics – Germany
• Large and very fragmented market
• Top 5 Corporate Sectors in Germany are:
Banking, Finance, Insurance
Pharmaceutical, medical, chemical
Electronics/IT
Industrial Goods
Automotive sector
• Majority are SMEs
• Majority of companies have no events policy or guidelines and no dedicated Events or
MICE Manager
• Majority of corporate business is booked and organized by intermediaries
Market Characteristics – Germany
• Intermediaries are very influential
• Variety of MICE agencies
• 62% are event/advertisement agencies
• 33% are full-service incentive houses
• 19% are PCOs
• 15% are Tour Operators with incentive departments
• 5% are other types of agencies
• Destination decision is mostly made by Corporate account – still agencies have influence
Activities to reach the German market
• IMEX Frankfurt
• Industry magazines
• Smaller industry events – such as:
• ICJ mice advantage
• MICE by melody
Thank you!
Välkommen till Holland 2015
Understanding the Dutch
They..
Admire their Royals
Have embraced social media
Always say what they think
Have strange food habits
Are champions in cycling
Love speed skating, although they hardly have real winters
Are famous for their cheeses and tulips
Are discoverers
Only spend their money after having saved it
Sweden according to the Dutch
MICE market Netherlands
• Approximately 100-150 MICE agencies
• 5 Million business related trips per year, 15% was an one day trip.
• Main reason for a business trip are incentives, often combined with
meetings or workshops
• Most trips are in spring or fall
• Challenging market, but picking up
MICE market Netherlands
• Important is the fun factor during the trip, however ROI is getting more
and more important
• Companies mainly use MICE agencies rather than booking directly
• The Dutch MICE market is very price sensitive
• The traditional destinations, such as Barcelona, Paris and London are
popular. Gaining on popularity is Eastern Europe, fe Poland.
• There are many MICE branch organizations, such as SITE, MPI, NATM, IDEA
MICE market Netherlands
And many, many more
Changed law work-related expenses Netherlands
• Limitation to employee benefits to 1,4% of companies employees costs
• People are a little cautious and reserved due to the incertainty about the
new law
• Avoid tax by implementing ‘study’ aspect to the trip
Joint opportunities Netherlands
 Roadshow 1-on-1 meetings
 Ambassadors evening
 Kick off campaign
 Joint campaign with MICE Magazine
Dankjewel!
Kick Off meeting STO 17 -18 FEB 2015
BELUX market
created by Evy Gordts
Introduction BELUX market
 Officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a federal monarchy in Western
Europe.
 Founding member of the European Union
 EU's headquarters
 Home of major international organisations such as NATO
• It is a long established fact that a
read-er will be distracted by the
readable content of a page when
looking at its layout.
• All the Lorem Ipsum generators on the
Internet tend to repeat predefined
chunks as necessary, making this the
first true generator on the Internet.
 Belgium covers an area of 30,528 square kilometres
 Population of about 11 million people
 3 official languages ; NL ( 59% ) – FR ( 41% ) – DE
 BE political situation : complicated  and complex 
• The standard chunk of Lorem Ipsum
used since the 1500s is reproduced.
Market insights – MICE
 General info , meeting industry ( 2013 facts – Flanders + BRU region )
•
111 600 meetings / conferences / congresses
•
74% organized by corporate organizations / 26% by associations
•
+/- duration 1.3 days ( 27% more than 2 days )
•
+/- participants 88 ( 15% more than 100 delegates )
•
Spending per day +/ 173.00 pp
•
BRU is in top 3 of best EU Mice destinations
 Trends in MICE
•
Venues need to be flexible ( prize strategy , location , terms and conditions , packages all in )
•
Technology ( apps, social media , virtual meetings , smartphones etc )
•
Thinking out of the box ( experimental travels )
•
Destination with recreation ( less exotic destinations – create added value )
•
Share economy : air bnb , book a local , uber taxi’s – role of the event agent
•
Remains important for us : gastronomy ;-)
Travel Habits
•
12,7 MIO commercial holidays/year
•
Holidays by plane (of the 12.7 million holidays) : 2,9 MIO
•
Holiday participation level 74% (8.2 MIO)
•
73% of holidays from Flanders, 28% from Wallonia
•
45.5% organize their holiday themselves - 54.5% via intermediary ( TO )
•
Average holiday budget is EUR 2.400
•
Internet penetration is 81.4%
•
Internet is main source of information for holidays (58% inform online)
•
Main holiday month is July
•
Incentive agents and MICE market are big in Belgium
STO perception in the BE market

We have 3 airlines flying to STO out of BE : BMA (SN )
– ARN ( SK ) - NYO ( FR )
 SN and SK have very high groups prices for which STO
often falls out as being too expensive in comparison with
the competitor cities as BCN , MAD etc
 Negative points to counter : bad instable weather ,
expensive destination
Actions 2014
Travel Magazine Banners
•
•
•
•
Leading Travel Trade Magazine in BELUX
For 4 weeks we had a banner announcing the travel agent offer
I personally send out the rules and conditions to the agents
In a short period of time +/- 5 to 10 agents booked a trip to STO
Actions 2014
BBT online
•
•
•
•
Is a networking session + workshop related to mice agencies
High quality of buyers , personal contacts
Facebook interaction etc
2x a year in 1- Flanders /2- Brussels region
Actions 2014
Travel 2 Magazine
•
We invited a journalist over to STO to write about the MICE
facilities and opportunities
•
Travel trade magazine BELUX
Plans for 2015
-Create Stockholm ambassadors
-Send out MICE newsletters (1per Q ) ‘ what's hot in STO , events
, incentive ideas , new hotels / restaurants etc
- Roadshow in BE with SCB & partners
- Scandinavian themed dinner with entertainment for agents in
collaboration with SN / SAS
-Continuous sales calls towards agents , event agencies ,
associations etc
- In constant search for opportunities to put STO on the MICElandmark
-Being the STO representative in our markets to indulge agents
with spectacular ideas , information about suppliers etc
Thank you!
STOCKHOLM KICKOFF | Feb 17th & 18th 2015
FRANCE by ELISE
The French market
• With the instable political situation in
North Africa, French MICE agencies
tend to offer more and more
alternatives to their clients – such as
Northern European Destinations
• Stockholm is easily accessible with
flight connections from Paris CDG but
also Lyon, Bordeaux and Nice. Several
carriers offer direct connections from
those airports to the capital of
Scandinavia
• Stockholm has positive and dynamic
image, it’s a new destination offering a
wide range of activities and can seduced
all the MICE segments.
Trends for 2015
• Businesses remain attentive to their
spending and the study "Global Meetings
Forecast 2015" conducted by American
Express Meetings & Events confirms that
the slogan of the organizers of
European events will still be "to do
more with less" in 2015.
• New
technologies:
the
events’
organizers take advantage of all
possible solutions: social networks
allowing participants to connect with each
other, tablets facilitating interaction with
the speakers and other participants...
2014 | A YEAR IN REVIEW
MICE ACTIVITY | Sales Mission, November 2014
• Objectives:
• Enhance the destination’s knowledge
• Generate direct leads for Stockholm
• Position Stockholm as a MICE
destination to the trade press
• Description:
• Organise 3 days of meetings / trainings
for the French MICE agencies
• Organise a social event to gather the
MICE agents and present the
destination
• Key performance indicator(s):
• Number of 1-on-1meetings & trainings:
6 in 3 days / 19 MICE Agents trained
• Number of attendees at the event: 19
• Number of press clippings: 6
PR ACTIVITIES | Press releases & press trips
• Objectives:
• Create visibility and enhance the
Stockholm image in the MICE
publications
• Create an interest for the destination
and generate requests
• Description:
• Maintain the press informed with
regular press releases
• Pitch story to potential MICE journalists
• Organize press trips
• Key Performance Indicators:
• Number of press trips: 3 press trips
• Number of articles published: 18
articles
• Advertsing Equivalency: 1,500,000SEK
2015 | READY? ACTION!
MICE Activities | Build new relationships
• Meedex workshop in Lyon and Paris
• We’ll attend the 2015 edition of the
Meedex Lyon & Paris workshop to scan
for new clients & potential business
• LYON: target of 100 to 120 contacts –
MICE agencies, corporate buyers
• PARIS: target of 150 to 200 contacts –
MICE agencies, corporate buyers
• Organize individual Sales Calls: one on
one meetings to build new relationships
• Fam trips: organize fams trips in
Stockholm to have the MICE agents
discover the destination and create real
Stockholm Ambassadors!
MICE Activities | Strenghten existing relationships
• Implement a MICE newsletter in French
• Goal: keep the MICE agencies informed
of Stockholm assets and news
• Periodicity: 1 newsletter every 2 months
• Great tool to highlight partners - hotels,
venues, DMCs...
• Appreciation Event: Cooking Class , a first
“taste” of Stockholm”
• Organize a master cooking class
around Swedish products
• The goal is to gather selected agencies
around a fun activity and present them
Stockholm and its MICE assets
• Invite partners to present their products
Continue our PR activities...
• Keep working with the MICE publications
on the French market to enhance the
Stockholm image and USPs
• Target relevant media and coordinate
individual press trips to enhance the
Stockholm image as a MICE destination
• Publications: Tendance Nomad, MEET &
Travel Mag, Meet In…
AviaCircle UK Presentation
By Caroline Stanton
UK MICE Market Trends – Economy 2015
UK MICE Market Trends - Economy 2015
• Mixed outlook for the events industry,
and the UK economy as a whole, may not
be as rosy as key forecasts suggest,
according to Chris Williamson, chief
economist at Markit.
• Key economic forecasts are positive, with
the Bank of England predicting 2.9%
growth to the economy in 2015.
• Wages are finally higher than inflation,
unemployment is at its lowest level since
2008, businesses are investing and wages
are expected to rise, which should help
drive consumer spending, so the outlook is
fairly optimistic.
• The Pound Sterling to Euro (GBP/EUR)
exchange rate forecast is to soften on
Eurozone Investor Confidence. The single
currency strengthened versus many of its
major peers after European economic data
came in higher than expected.
• Key threats over subdued growth in
Russia, Brazil, China and India, a slowing
down of growth in America plus the
prospect of another Eurozone financial crisis
will result in conservative expenditure.
UK Market Trends - Destinations
UK MICE Market Trends – Destinations
Short haul by Country
• City breaks and the MICE sector saw the
largest increases while holidays to snow
and countryside resorts dipped.
• Sweden and Spain have seen similar
growth in travel this year while Swiss
travellers took 7% more trips and travellers
in Denmark and Poland posted a 6% rise.
Most foreign travel was taken within Europe,
and saw a 3% boost. Bookings through the
internet increased 7% while the number of
travel agent sales remained stagnant.
• Barcelona, Paris and Amsterdam remain
strong for Groups delegate nights and
Eastern Europe making its mark.
number of groups
Short haul by city/state/resort
Number of groups
MICE Market 2014 /15 Trends
UK MICE Market Trends 2014
54%
Of UK Meetings
are held in
Europe
International Confex
Is the most attended MICE trade show
by UK Agencies
50% of incentive
travel planners
will increase their
budget in 2015
Lack of Free Wi-Fi
Issue causing most
Dissatisfaction and £370 million is spent
each year for British companies
43
Sources: Meetings & Incentive Travel’s 2012 Trends &
Spends survey2012 Incentive Travel Survey BMEIS 2011/12
61%
Choose venues that
are ease of access
(air, rail, road Links)
Twitter is the
most popular social
media
43% who booked
congress venues used
Convention hotels
18%
of Corporates
are still using
Luxury venues
UK MICE Market Trends – Trends 2015
• More than 50% of incentive travel
planners will increase their budget in
2015, according to a study by the Incentive
Research Foundation.
• 50% of planners will spend more than
£2,500 per person on incentive trips in
2015 as the industry continues its postrecession recovery.
• Research found that planners are
concentrating on different types of
experiences for attendees with an
increased focus on wellness programmes
such as mountain-bike adventures, cooking
classes and exotic spa treatments.
• Meetings business is heading for
Europe for the added incentive element.
Andrew Barlow, head of event
management at Ian Allan Travel, said:
“There are two factors driving clients
across sectors choosing to hold their
events in Europe; namely a postrecession return of confidence, and
secondly a desire to include an
incentive aspect to the meeting at hand,
by choosing the continent.
• The Meetings Show 2014 saw a
staggering 25% increase in visitor
numbers with 3,097 visitors attending
over three days. Of this figure, 721 were
hosted buyers and 2,376 were trade
visitors.
UK Successful Sales Missions 2014
Sales Mission & Event London 2014/15
Building Relationships with new
& existing Trade partners
Destination & Partner training on Stockholm
In-house & at the event
Fun , informative events with good Scandinavian
Food, drink, presentations and prizes
Follow up enquiries for Stockholm, FAM trips and Industry
events
Thank you!
Germany - Elisabet Kulmer:
[email protected] +49 152 0565 8444
Netherlands - Marthe Van Leuuwen:
[email protected] +31 206 54 15 65
Belgium - Evy Gordts:
[email protected] +32 484 47 98 70
France - Elise Boisson:
[email protected] +33 153 43 79 16
UK - Caroline Stanton:
[email protected] +44 782 500 15 42