## 6 Promoting Attraction and Holding of MICE and Grabbing Foreign Business Guests

Promoting the attraction and holding of international conventions, etc. (MICE) Note is meaningful in a broad range of aspects, including capturing overseas people and their wisdom into Japan, producing major economic benefits in and around the places of the conventions, creating chances of business innovation and boosting national and municipal competitiveness and brand power. According to International Congress and Convention Association (ICCA) statistics, the number of times international conventions are held is on the rise worldwide and its growth is most pronounced in Asia on the support of its rapid rates of economic growth. In Japan, 342 international conventions were held in 2013, the seventh in number in the world and the largest for the second consecutive year in Asia. Asian competitors have been staging proactive campaigns to grab MICE, with the consequence of proportionately declining Japanese international competitiveness as Japan is faced with increasingly tough rivalry. Hence, its international competitiveness needs to be built up.

To attain the goal of “building the untottering number one position in Asia as an international convention host nation in 2030” set forth in the Japan Revitalization Strategy, approaches have been started, including:

a. Fostering global MICE cities to win tough competition from overseas competitors for hosting MICE.

b. Appointing individuals who are influential at home and abroad through academic societies, etc. as “MICE Ambassadors” to publicize and promote the attraction of international conferences and stage attraction and other activities.

c. Seeking qualitative and quantitative expansion in the usage and promotion of unique venues to create a sense of distinction or regional characteristics by holding conventions or reception in buildings of historic significance, public spaces or elsewhere.

After these efforts directed at inviting MICE into Japan, the holding of a chain of massive international conferences in Japan has been decided, including SIGGRAPH Asia 2015 scheduled in Kobe (6,000 participants scheduled) and the World Buiatrics Congress 2018 scheduled in Sapporo (2,000 participants scheduled). The number of large incentive tours has also increased, including those from Taiwan containing a total party of about 2,000.

## Consolidating the tourism industry

## (1) Dissemination of the concept of safety management for travel agencies

The concept of safety management was disseminated and promoted among travel agencies, including smaller agencies who are not familiar with it, since the importance of a thorough implementation of safety management in the tourism industry as a whole had been suggested at a FY2013 meeting of the Tourism Industry Study Group.

## (2) Formulating guidelines relating to online travel transactions

While Internet transactions continue to proliferate, numerous overseas online travel agencies (OTAs), site loaners that do not take liability as a subject of a contract by themselves and others exist. Considering the fact that many consumers sign up with them without knowledge of their partners or terms of the contracts, guidelines have been formulated relating to online travel transactions to keep the travel contracts both safe and secure and thus to prevent troubles.

## (3) Disseminating information about accommodation facilities

A general portal site has been opened at a JNTO website to provide foreign tourists with information about Japan's diverse accommodation facilities in an intelligible manner. The portal site has made it possible to augment the public awareness of, and interest in, the brand of Japanese inns, or Japan's unique accommodation facilities, and to refer the foreign tourists to websites run by the individual facilities wanting in their abilities to disseminate information overseas.