Niche Partners launches 2021 MICE industry report

On Friday, 28 May 2021, Niche Partners officially launched its African Perspectives on the MICE Industry Report for 2021.

In a virtually hosted event, Niche Partners Consulting in association with Meetings magazine and theplanner.guru, launched the African Perspectives on the MICE Industry Report 2021.

Expressing her passion for research in Africa, and in particular for the development of MICE on the continent, was Londi Khumalo, managing director of Niche Partners: “We are proud to say our collaboration collectively exceeded our survey participation from 2020 by 70% and we aim to increase this each year going forward. Together we really achieve so much more,” commented Londi.

Africa’s MICE value proposition

Londi noted during her presentation that one of the key areas for the growth of the MICE industry in Africa lies in the huge potential that the continent has to trade with itself. To demonstrate this, Londi highlighted that China’s domestic tourism industry grew by 42% from 2020, with a total of 138.5 million domestic trips taken for MICE purposes in this period. Perhaps more impressive is that these travellers spent a total of US$110 billion.

These insights bode especially well for the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) agreement, which the team at Niche Partners believe will form a strong role in growth across a range of sectors in Africa.

“With the opportunities the AfCFTA agreement aims to facilitate, it translates to $292 billion through easier trade measures… We know that the African market should no longer be something we are still considering but should be part of any future strategic activity in the MICE sector,” noted Leana Robson, business development consultant for Niche Partners.

Report highlights

The African Perspectives on the MICE Industry Report 2021 encompasses 16 countries that are active in the MICE industry. These have been considered based on the data they report to the International Congress and Convention Association (ICCA) in addition to other international platforms.

“As we conducted the research, we had to exclude countries in which we found very little data,” explains Londi.

The report is comprised of the following insights.

1.            Africa’s broad economic forecasts
2.            Africa’s source markets
3.            Maturity of Africa’s MICE market + SWOT analysis
4.            Africa’s economic priority sectors
5.            Africa’s client and supplier leading interventions
6.            Rotational opportunities in Africa
7.            The opportunity cost for Africa

Register here to access and watch the launch video.

To get in touch with the team, email Leana Robson on business@nichepartners.org.