Tourism Secretary Ace Durano has virtually opened the forthcoming conference on meetings, incentives, conventions and exhibitions (MICE) to the entire business community as he invited all members of the corporate and entrepreneurial sectors to join the event.

Durano said the Philippine MICE Conference (MICECON) 2010 would orient corporate executives and entrepreneurs on the latest trends in this field, provide them with a lineup of competent foreign and local service providers, present to them the best practices worldwide, and acquaint them with the global network of MICE experts whom they could tap, thus enabling them to optimize the benefits they could derive from staging their own MICE-related activities anywhere in the world.

“MICECON is not just for the MICE sector of the tourism industry, but for the entire business community since it revolves around a marketing tool (MICE) that is now being used extensively worldwide in pursuit of corporate and entrepreneurial objectives,” Durano explained.

“In fact, these meetings, incentives, conventions and exhibitions, or MICE, constitute a very popular below-the-line marketing and promotional vehicle that is made to run in country-specific or region-specific markets,” Durano pointed out.

MICECON 2010 is slated at the Subic Bay Exhibition and Convention Center on Feb. 4 to 7.

“The staging of this event (MICECON 2010) in Subic is intended to develop and market the North as another MICE destination outside Manila,” Durano said.

This is the first time that a MICE event will be held north of Manila. Previous MICE events were staged in Cebu, Boracay, Davao, Bacolod and Batangas. This is also the first time that the country’s two major MICE-related events – the Philippine Incentive Marketing Conference (Phil-Incentive) and the Philippine Asia MICE Forum – are brought together to form MICECON 2010.

“Therefore, MICECON 2010 is the result of a historic tie-up among MITE (Movement of Incentive Travel Executives), PACEOS (Philippine Association of Convention/Exhibition Organizers and Suppliers) and the DoT (Department of Tourism) and its marketing arm PCVC (Philippine Convention and Visitors Corporation),” said conference convenor Rosvi C. Gaetos.

Supporting MICECON are the Hotel Sales & Marketing Association (HSMA), National Association of Independent Travel Agencies Inc. (NAITAS), and many other industry groups.

Aside from the seminars, workshops and business networking activities, MICECON 2010 also includes special events in three key northern destinations – Balanga for bird watching, Subic for the main conference, and Clark for the post-tour.

MICECON’s long lineup of prestigious international speakers include industry leaders and experts from around the world, according to conference chairman and Tourism Undersecretary for Planning and Promotions Edu Jarque Jr.

“They will unveil their trade secrets and show the road map to this $300-billion global market,” Jarque stressed.

MICECON 2010 is supported by the Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority, Philippine Airlines, Philippine Tourism Authority, Province of Cebu, City of Balanga, Victory Liner, Subic Bay Exhibition and Convention Center, Islands Philippines, Primer Group of Companies / (Recreational Outdoor Exchange) ROX, WOW Jeepney Tours, Clark Development Corporation, Clark International Airport Corporation, Coltrans, Travellers International Hotel Group, Abacus International, Smart Communications, TTG Asia, Manila North Tollways Corporation, Annset Holidays, INTAS Destinations, Yellowbird Tours, and Travel Café Philippines.

More information on the MICECON 2010 can be obtained from the MICECON Secretariat - email address: phil.MICEconference@gmail.com / cit@dotpcvc.gov.ph, or visit www.dotpcvc.gov.ph).