SL gears up to host first-ever MICE Expo in March

Come March, Sri Lanka will host its first-ever event to promote the destination for meetings, incentive travels, conferences and exhibitions/business events (MICE). 

MICE Expo 2023 will take place from March 13 to 15, 2023, at Shangri-La Colombo and is expected to bring in over 100 participants from South East Asia, the Middle East and Europe. 

The event is organised by the Sri Lankan Convention Bureau (SLCB), in partnership with SriLankan Airlines, under the guidance of the Tourism and Lands Ministry. 

According to the SLCB, the majority of the buyers are confirmed from India, which is one of the leading MICE outbound markets. 

“With the expected footfall and diverse crowd anticipated at the event, this will be a huge opportunity for local service providers to gain global exposure and attract new customers, said Tourism Minister Harin Fernando addressing the launch event yesterday. 

He added that the collaborative effort will help to increase Sri Lanka’s external earnings and ease the pressure on our foreign reserves, particularly as a result of the major global travel agencies expected to attend. 

The expo aims to promote Sri Lanka as a business event destination, in an effort to grow tourism revenues and increase foreign currency inflows into Sri Lanka, by leveraging the high-quality MICE traveller segment who, according to Sri Lanka Tourism, on average spend up to three times more than leisure and other tourist segments.