MICE CENTRAL & EASTERN EUROPE

By Zuzana Adamson

Between February 21 and 23 – the fifth edition of the ACE of M.I.C.E. trade fair, Event & Meeting Exhibition, was held. This is an important MICE trade fair, not only for the Turkish MICE market, but also because it increasingly provides buyers and sellers from many different destinations worldwide with international exchanges, business connections, and networking opportunities. The event lived up to its motto: “Are You Ready For Inspiration?”

The event’s traditional venue, the Istanbul Congress Centre (ICC), is ideally located in the city centre, and all the delegates stayed in 5-star and 4-star hotels close to the event venue including two Elite World Hotel properties: Ritz-Carlton and Metropolitan Hotels.

Just as it was in 2017, this edition of the ACE of M.I.C.E. was organised in cooperation with Turkish Airlines. Both companies, Turizm Medya Grubu and Turkish Airlines, are happy with this fruitful cooperation. Volkan Ataman, Director of the ACE of M.I.C.E., says: “With the support of our name and airlines sponsor Turkish Airlines, we are able to host 153 International Hosted Buyers from 40 different countries. Furthermore, we are hosting 235 Visitor Hosted Buyers and 169 participants from 33 countries with 21 group coordinators and 41 media partners.”

The number of delegates, visitors and hosted delegates, speakers, and exhibitors numbered around 15,000 this year. MICE CENTRAL & EASTERN EUROPE continued as the event’s media partner, and the event’s potential for cooperation with various other countries is growing.

The event started on Tuesday, and we could see a lot of business exchanges, productivity activities, and meetings taking place. Hosted Buyers filled their schedules with quality meetings, and there were also educational programmes such as fascinating and relevant insights into the Chinese Outbound Travel and the MICE Market by Dr Marcus Lee, CEO ASIA Business Travel & MICE.

Many activities were also organised for delegates, enabling them to see the city and hotel properties suitable for MICE events. On the first evening, after exhibition hours, the delegates enjoyed the Primetime Business and Entertainment cruise and then a lovely gala dinner hosted by the Hilton Bosphorus located next to the ICC. The second evening saw the traditional AMEzing party at the “Dome Tent” next to the ICC where all of the delegates could enjoy their time with colleagues until midnight.