Macau MICE events up by 34.5% in H1

There were 702 events in the first six months of the year.

Macau.- The number of Meetings, Incentives, Conferences, and Exhibitions (MICE) events held in Macau in the first half of the year was up by 34.5 per cent compared to H1 2022. There were 702 events, 95.6 per cent of pre-Covid-19 levels in 2019 (734).

There were 658 meetings and conferences, 26 exhibitions and 18 incentives. However, there was a 29.1 per cent decrease in the number of participants and attendees at 479,000. Non-gaming spending by visitors reached MOP2.47bn (US$307.7m). Some 37 per cent of events focused on commerce and management. Tourism, information technology, and finance events accounted for 13, 11 and 10.7 per cent respectively.

For the second quarter of 2024, the number of MICE events grew by 27.8 per cent year-on-year to 368, surpassing 2019 levels. MICE-driven receipts in the city’s non-gaming industries amounted to about MOP1.48bn, up 20 per cent year-on-year and up 49.5 per cent quarter-on-quarter.

Macau received nearly 19.75 million visitors in the first seven months of the year. The figure was up by 37.1 per cent compared to the same period last year. Macau’s chief executive, Ho Iat Seng, expects 30 million tourists in 2024.