Celebrating its fifth year, CIMCF closed with a number of ‘firsts', with new cities attending from within East China and revised content sessions inspired by international conference, TED. More than 500 delegates attended the show with representatives from across tourism authorities, events management companies, meeting venues and other agencies within travel services.
Panel discussions and “travel experience design” talks were at the fore of the show’s programme, discussing topics ranging from “How to make your meetings more valuable” to the challenges faced by MICE professionals in China.
TED talks featured panellists from Shanghai-based carrier Spring Airlines, Chinese taxi app Kuaidi Dache and conference organiser CDMC Events. A MICE Technology Experience Zone encouraged participants to try out the industry’s latest technologies and event and meeting apps.
Joining the show for the first time were secondary cities Nanjing, Hangzhou and Suzhou, which were showcased among China’s top seven MICE destinations including Shanghai, Beijing, Ningbo and Jinxing. With attendance from so many emerging cities, a panel on “How to develop your city into a popular and attractive MICE destination” was also offered, moderated by managing director of MCI China Frankie Gao.