The Sri Lanka Convention Bureau (SLCB) will be relaunching MICE Tourism Research Bulletin, which has been compiled after a lapse of almost six years.  The latest findings will be made available to industry members today. The initiative was taken in response to the high volume of information requests by the industry members seeking MICE tourism-related data that would enable them to assess their market shares and competitive position in the industry.

The study findings confirm that as at end-2013, the Sri Lankan MICE industry has progressed to become a US $ 177 million (over US $ 17 million over the estimate) industry with a high proportion of revenue being generated by international events, namely the incentives segment which contributes to approximately 63 percent of the total revenue.

Total MICE arrivals, including incentive travel, has reached 134,488, an increase of over 1000 arrivals than the initial calculation. “Determining the exact outcomes of MICE tourism is a challenging task since MICE tourism information needs to be obtained from the industry unlike leisure tourism arrival figures, which are available in the immigration arrival cards.

‘’This is yet another step taken by the SLCB towards supporting the MICE business stakeholders. Being the first MICE research study to be conducted after several years in the Sri Lankan post-war era, it is a significant project and one that would be the benchmark for future research,” said SLCB Manager Research Iyroshi Jayawardena.

The SLCB will be making a presentation on the findings of the research at an industry forum scheduled for today at 3:00 p.m., at the Hotel School Auditorium, Colombo 3.