The Meetings Industry Manifesto is one of the most lucid –
and mercifully succinct - advocacy documents I have read in 14 years as a journalist
working in this field.
The result of recent talks between newly elected members of the
European Parliament and representatives from the Joint Meetings Industry Council,
VisitBrussels, CityDNA, and the European Exhibition Industry Alliance, the
eight-page priority list exorcises some of the demons that have beset the
industry over the years when it comes to defining purpose and value.
Know thyself is a maxim that goes back to the ancient
Greeks – but for leaders of the meetings/events/business events/MICE/business
travel industry it has sometimes felt like the most urgent of commands. Its identity
crisis has even hampered efforts to agree on a name.
The confusion has arisen in attempts to define the value of the meetings industry.
Some insist it is to be found in the events themselves – the
knowledge shared, the elevation of industry, science and medicine, the talent
and investment they attract, and so on.
For these people events are essentially a function of communications
and the main purpose of convention bureaux, venues and event agencies is
to help make them happen.
But for some on the supply side, this strays too far into client territory, basks
a little too much in reflected glory. As one convention bureau manager put it
to me, ‘It’s not we who are helping to save lives…’
These people place themselves firmly in the ‘visitor
economy’, their job to generate revenues by bringing visitors (or ‘business
tourists’) to the cities and regions they represent.
It should go without saying that, while there is disagreement
on emphasis, these visions of the meetings and events industry are
not mutually exclusive. One does not cancel out the other.
This is where the manifesto comes into its own, breezily articulating
how meetings and events add value to the visitor economy and the crucial role
it should play in the EU’s Tourism Transition Pathway, a project to create a
greener and more resilient tourism sector, and in the next breath stating how
meetings can boost innovation, sustainability and inward investment.
The ‘visitor economy’ perspective is the traditional view,
which aligns most closely with the prevailing funding models for destination
marketing organisations, which in Europe tend to sit in the control of government
tourism departments and in North America tend to be funded by hotel bed or
‘tourist’ taxes. But in recent years it has come under pressure from the legacy
advocates in the industry who see in it something of the ‘(supplier) tail wagging
the (industry) dog’.
The Manifesto shows that the meetings industry can flex its
muscles in more than one direction and benefit society in more ways than one. But
if the meetings industry is serious about elevating its voice, then the myriad
associations who represent the industry need to step up a gear, too. They need
to employ public affairs specialists who know their way around the corridors of
power in Brussels and Washington. And they need to employ communications
experts who can keep things simple for ministers who have a million-and-one
other things to be thinking about. Perhaps, too, those that are involved in the
industry need to think about ways to make it simpler. After all, how
many industry partnerships, alliances, networks do we need?
But that’s for another time….
Written By
James Lancaster
AMI editor James
Lancaster is a familiar face in the meetings industry and international
association community. Since joining AMI in 2010, he has gained a reputation
for asking difficult questions and getting lost in convention centres. Proofer, podcaster, and panellist - in his spare time, James likes to walk,
read, listen to music, and drink beer.
