Experiences and Emotional engagement top the list for the GCC traveller

Top corporate organizations and prominent travel agencies from across the GCC along with global suppliers and travel specialists gathered at the Palazzo Versace Dubai, UAE for the 5th Annual edition of the MICE Arabia & Luxury Travel Congress. The congress which completed “half a decade” of making business connections, is the regions niche and premier platform which once again focussed on the tremendous potential of the GCC outbound market cutting across MICE, business and luxury travel. The congress kick started with a powerful session on ‘Redefining MICE’ by DR. Rob Davidson, MD MICE Knowledge, Author, International Motivational Speaker, and a key influencer of the UK MICE industry. His presentation emphasized on the importance of MICE and how effective leaders build teams and maximise performance through MICE activities “All over the world, there has been a dramatic jump in the number of companies choosing non-cash rewards, such as incentive travel or incentivized meetings, to get the best performance and best results out of their employees. Companies that use MICE events effectively as part of their HR strategy are quickly finding that they have far more loyal and more productive people on their payroll. At the same time, there has never been a greater choice of exciting MICE destinations and venues available for meetings, incentive trips and team-building events. Improved air-links between the Middle East and the rest of the world are making these destinations and venues more and more accessible to companies in this region” said DR. Davidson. The presentation was followed by a panel hosting the biggest names from both the corporate and government world which included Her Excellency Sara Al Madani, Board Member of Sharjah Chamber of Commerce and Industry, UAE; Abdulghafoor Abdulhaleem, Director—Business Services, Saudi Arabian Industrial Investment Company (SAIIC), KSA; Ashish Chaturvedy, Head of Marketing and Communications, DUCAB, UAE; Mohammed Zaher, Associate Director, Gulf Area, Yemen and East Africa, Jamjoom Pharma, KSA; and Naif Abusaida, Executive Director for Marketing and External Affairs, ACWA Power, KSA and was moderated by Mohamed Samak, Procurement and Category Manager, OSN, UAE. The speakers discussed about changing buying preferences amid the challenges posed by the global economic climate. The highlight of the session was, how it is becoming extremely imperative for business heads coming from organizations heavily depending on travel services to provide excellent service to their internal customers and at the same time contain the heavy cost while continuously looking at ways and means to appropriately manage their business portfolio. “The congress is a powerful initiative to harness the immense potential of the MICE industry in the Middle East with the surety of generating long lasting business relations and increasing revenue many folds. The conference program aims to provide a realistic picture of what to expect for the MICE and business travel from the region.” commented Sidh N.C. Director, QNA International. The first day of the MALT Congress also unravelled discussions and focused topics on technology in MICE, the changing role of travel agencies, building models for successful event hosting and many others. The 5th edition of the congress saw unparalleled networking opportunities for doing business during the one to one pre-arranged business appointments, thus making it the regions premier event focused on getting 100 percent corporate and luxury travel buyers from GCC to meet with global MICE and luxury travel specialists.