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MICE Destinations

Choosing Monaco for an automotive congress: Insights from an interview with Romain Deltour, Project Manager at nice :-) 

Based in Essen, Germany, nice 🙂 boasts 25 years in the market. This reputable event agency has a client portfolio including some of the leading national and international brands, offering them support with event production and delivery A–Z, in the most desirable destinations around the world. 
This October, they are organising an automotive congress in Monaco for 350 delegates. Therefore I interviewed Romain Deltour, Project Manager at nice 🙂 , to learn more about the background story, and the process behind choosing Monaco for this annual event. This is the fourth year that team nice 🙂 has worked with this automotive client. Each year they choose a new destination, and that can mean only one thing: destination choice becomes more selective each time, with higher expectations. 
This year, the client had very specific destination requirements: a maximum three hours flight time from Germany, with an international airport no further than 30 minutes away from the hotel and event venue. Additionally, the client was looking for hotel capacity that would accommodate all delegates together in one hotel. 

An introductory guide to MICE in Amsterdam

Amsterdam came to my close attention after seeing that two event planners from my close network hosted events there in the past six months. I closely follow trends in destination selection and I was interested what is it in Amsterdam that it was selected. I’ve been to Amsterdam two times in the past on leisure, and therefore knew very little about it for MICE. When I was invited by Amsterdam Marketing to join a media trip organised in collaboration with Hilton and KLM from 22-23 July 2018, I gladly accepted, as I knew that it will bring extra value to you my readers. It seems that this city is currently on the pitch list!

Unexpected Monaco event in Cologne

On the 5th of July I attended an evening event organised by the Monaco Convention Bureau in Cologne. The event took place at The View Cologne, a prime location overlooking the landmark Cologne Cathedral. It was a small and intimate evening with about 35 guests to recreate what it’s like to actually host an event in Monaco. The theme, Unexpected Monaco, was consistent throughout the evening, from typical decoration to food, drinks and entertainment, with the Vice-World Champion of Mental Magic Lucca Key giving an engaging performance. After spending the busy IMEX Frankfurt with the Monaco Convention Bureau to report about all their latest news, this evening was laid back to soak in the Monégasque hospitality. I’m delighted to share with you the photos that I took on the night and let them to tell the story!

Monaco Convention Bureau reveals its latest news at IMEX Frankfurt

This year’s IMEX Frankfurt ended on a positive note for the Monaco Convention Bureau, where both the quality and the high number of qualified buyers exceeded exhibitors’ expectations. Nine partners joined the Monaco Convention Bureau this year as well as the local representatives from the UK and DACH. Various activities were on offer to enjoy between the meetings. The mixologist from the Columbus Monte-Carlo Hotel served refreshing cocktails and a therapist from the Thermes Marins Monte-Carlo offered hand massage for visitors. And that’s not all, the Executive Chef Philippe Joannès from The Fairmont Monte-Carlo Hotel was also on site to prepare delicious canapes and give the guests a little taste what it’s like to host an event in Monaco.

Stand partners who joined this year included the hotels Columbus Monte-Carlo, Fairmont Monte-Carlo and the Monte-Carlo SBM Group. The following DMCs: DreamCatcher, Incentive Concept, Lafayette Monaco, Raising Stones Events and Welcome Travel Team / Publi Créations. Last but not least the congress centre Grimaldi Forum Monaco was also at the show.

MICE @ ITB Berlin – it’s growing

This year’s ITB Berlin ended for me on a high note. It was my second year attending the MICE @ ITB Berlin programme (third time at ITB Berlin), and I was positively surprised to see the interest from the international MICE community.

While the programme has been running as the ITB MICE Day since 2009, this year it was in a bigger format and over three days. The three new pillars are MICE Hub for exhibitors, MICE Forum for education and the MICE Night for networking. Interestingly enough not many people know about it, but it slowly starts picking up thanks to the international press coverage and the stronger communication and branding. This programme is organised by the official MICE @ ITB Berlin partner Verband der Veranstaltungsorganisatoren e.V. (VDVO), and they did an outstanding job bringing it to an international level.