DAVAO City Mayor Sara Duterte-Carpio has created a special body to prepare the city for the huge influx of local and foreign delegates to the forthcoming international conference on meetings, incentives, conventions and events/exhibitions (Mice).
Duterte herself chairs the Davao Host Organizing Committee, which she particularly created through an executive order acknowledging the city’s bid to become an international MICE destination and tourism hub in the South.
The committee, consisting of government and private sector groups, covers all areas of preparations to ensure the successful hosting of Mice Conference 2013.
Aside from conference seminars, also constituting Mice Con 2013 are business-to-business meetings called "MICE Mart" and a product and service exhibition of industry players and suppliers called "MICE Marketplace."
Mice Con 2013 is slated in the city’s newly-opened SMX Convention Center in Lanang on March 6-9. Lanang is an area in the southern part in this mostly elevated city known for its majestic scenic beauty from the mountains to the sea, thus befitting its famous descriptive line: "From Islands to Highlands."
Coming over to witness the stunning natural scenery amid and around this cosmopolitan city are MICE experts and business leaders from all over the world, including visitors from Manila and the rest of the archipelago.
To ensure that all their requirements are well taken cared of, the Sara-led organizing committee includes various units headed by experts to take charge of secretariat activities, attendance, transportation and tours, airport reception, accommodations, Mice Market Place, Mice Mart, socials and food and beverage, ways and means, safety and security, and finance, among others.
Constituting the committee are lawyer Zuleika T. Lopez as government co-chair, Gene C. Bangayan of the Davao Tourism Association (Data) and Davao Region Tourism Council as private sector co-chair, Mary Ann M. Montemayor of the Association of Davao Event Organizers and Suppliers and Small Hotels Association of Davao as secretariat, Davao Region director Art Boncato Jr. of the Department of Tourism (DOT), Jason C. Magnaye of the City Tourism Operations Office and Al Ryan Alejandre of the City Council committee on tourism and beautification for attendance promotion, Alexander D. Divinagracia of the Davao Association of Tour Operators and Jonathan C. Estrella of Guide-Davao for transportation and tours; Boncato, Magnaye and Edmund I. Mayormita of the National Association of Independent Travel Agencies for airport reception, Emily P. Nuere of the Hotel and Resort Sales and Marketing Association for accommodations, Angel P. Puentespina of Data for Mice Marketplace, Montemayor for Mice Mart, Lisette C. Marques of Du-aw Davao Festival Foundation for socials and food and beverage, Joseph Lawrence P. Garcia of the City Information Office for PR and publicity, Bangayan for ways and means, Maj. Magno G. Adalin Jr. of the Davao City Public Safety and Security Command Center for safety and security, and Pia Lourdes P. Montano of Davao Travel Agencies Association for finance.
The DOT and the rest of the tourism industry expect Mice Con 2013 to become a record-breaking event for drawing the most number of foreign experts in global business, travel and tourism, branding, marketing, leadership, and technology, among others.
The Mice Con program, according to the Tourism Promotions Board (TPB), will address both the basics and the issues relevant to executive and professional levels.
"The conference will further promote Davao City as a Mice destination in Southern Philippines," said TPB chief operating officer Domingo Ramon C. Enerio III.
"The biggest gathering of MICE professionals, this annual event serves as an industry platform for learning and business opportunities," Enerio pointed out.
For more information on Mice Con 2013, visit: www.micecon.net and Mice Con 2013 Davao on Facebook.