MICE tourism refers to business travel for the purposes of Meetings, Incentives, Conferences and Exhibitions. It is a sub-sector that has grown to impressive levels. Rwanda Convention Bureau (RCB) indicated in its latest report that MICE tourism generated at least $95 million in 2023, a 48 per cent increase from 2022, attributed largely to sports promotion and Rwandair network expansion. It is crystal clear that this sector can be harnessed to reach its full potential. Globally, the MICE market was estimated to be $916 billion in 2019 and is projected to reach $1,439 billion in 2025 and $1,780 billion in 2030. For Rwanda to claim its fair share of this market, more is needed beyond the ordinary. For instance, do guests see ultimate value when we host them? How many of them come back? How many events return to Kigali? We must strengthen the conditions for which planners and attendees deem necessary and important such as promoting quality, delivering experiential value, and ensuring sustainability. By quality we mean customer service, reliable transport services, good catering, comfortable accommodation, etc. Let’s agree that we still need to get our customer service right. When you cross the border to other destinations such as Kenya, Uganda, South Africa, and Egypt, you can tell that service is something that industry players take seriously and have put it to another level. A client won’t have to wait at the restaurant entrance for 25 minutes for someone to seat them down, or an hour for their order to be taken, and another hour for their order to be delivered, later alone be served with someone with an attitude who doesn’t seem to care about their job. But also, how much experience we give to the attendees before and after the conference, matters. That experience is what determines whether they see value to recommend others or even come back. We must also diversify our leisure offerings beyond what we currently deliver. For instance, we should support those that offer experiential tourism such as those that design tour packages that allow attendees to meaningfully experience Rwanda’s history, the people, culture, food and environment.
