MICE tourism gains momentum

Ballroom inspections and mahjong sessions may not be what automatically springs to mind when you consider Hong Kong’s appeal to visitors. Meetings, incentives, conferences and exhibitions tourism – MICE tourism, for short – is not about being conventional, however.

Ideal venue: A representative from the International Association of Professional Congress Organisers (left) is shown around exhibition halls and meeting rooms at the Hong Kong Convention & Exhibition Centre. source from news.gov.hk

Recently, nine representatives from the International Association of Professional Congress Organisers, hailing from Germany, Canada, Mexico and elsewhere, embarked on a five-day MICE tourism study mission in Hong Kong, at the invitation of the Tourism Board.

Their first stop was a Wan Chai hotel that opened late last year. The delegation inspected its banquet halls, suites and facilities, and enjoyed an unexpected highlight – an impromptu mahjong session in the games room that gave them a taste of one of the most popular Chinese pastimes.

The group then proceeded to the Hong Kong Convention & Exhibition Centre (HKCEC) where they were shown around several exhibition venues and meeting rooms, learning about their layout and design, as well as the centre’s transport connectivity, and took the opportunity to gaze out over Victoria Harbour.

Essential journey: The delegation ticks off a unique Hong Kong experience by ascending Victoria Peak on the 130-year-old Peak Tram. source from news.gov.hk

Multiple facets
For MICE visitors – whether squeezing in sightseeing activities around conferences or enjoying company incentive trips – riding the 130-year-old Peak Tram remains an essential Hong Kong experience, of course.

Having ascended Victoria Peak by tram, the delegation embarked on a nostalgic journey through 1970s–80s Hong Kong at the Peak Tower museum, before marvelling at magnificent panoramic views of the city’s famous skyline and Victoria Harbour from the Sky Terrace.

The group then descended to Man Mo Temple in Sheung Wan, where they performed the ritual of touching the holy deer statue with gold foil to seek blessings. All in all, they were able to immerse themselves fully in Hong Kong’s commercial, cultural and religious facets in a single day.

The tour participants represented diverse clients across sectors ranging from government to technology and pharmaceuticals, and are responsible for planning events across Asia, Europe, Africa and the Middle East. They said their experiences in Hong Kong would inform future decisions about staging professional conferences and summits in the city.

Local tradition: Tour participants seek blessings by touching the holy deer statue at Man Mo Temple with gold foil. source from news.gov.hk

Lasting impressions
Among the delegation was Jocelyne Mulli, managing director of a German organiser of professional conferences. Her firm has been using Hong Kong as its springboard into the Asia-Pacific region since 2012.

Though a frequent visitor to Hong Kong and to the HKCEC, she said her latest trip had opened her eyes to ongoing upgrades and more flexible service offerings in the city. In particular, she praised Hong Kong’s fusion of heritage and modernity, applauding its sustained achievements in MICE tourism development over the years.

“You are a hub, you are a base, and you are in the best place to welcome international delegates,” she said. “It is not everywhere that you have ballrooms, venue spaces of such size. You have a multilingual society and you have these historical aspects.”

For his part, Alejandro Ramirez Tabche, the CEO of a Mexican event planning company, said that seeing specific venues for himself had made him realise Hong Kong is the perfect MICE destination. Describing the city as “gorgeous”, he said he would recommend it to his peers as a location for holding events without hesitation.

“Hong Kong is always a top destination and people experience real fun and happiness,” he enthused. “And also, you have luxurious hotels, good food and good attractions. The people are so kind and they are very eager to help anytime.”

While in Hong Kong, the group also explored the Old Town Central neighbourhood’s blend of modern and historic elements, visited the giant panda twins at Ocean Park, and toured the newly opened Kai Tak Sports Park, gaining a full appreciation of the city’s diverse offerings.

Top destination: Managing director of a German organiser of professional conferences Jocelyne Mulli (left) is impressed by the sustained achievements in Hong Kong’s MICE tourism development, while CEO of a Mexican event planning company Alejandro Ramirez Tabche says he will recommend the city to his peers without hesitation. source from news.gov.hk

Robust revival
MICE tourism has emerged as a key driver of high-value travel to Hong Kong, with the city welcoming over 1.42 million overnight MICE visitors in 2024, a year-on-year increase of about 10%. Their average spending per capita outperformed overall overnight visitor expenditure by about 40% and catalysed growth across sectors including convention services, retail, dining and entertainment.

The Tourism Board is adopting a multipronged approach to developing MICE tourism, sparing no effort to secure major events for Hong Kong, while also inviting global conference organisers to experience the city’s MICE facilities and tourism assets first-hand.

Tourism Board Director & Business Development Team Lead of MICE Phoebe Shing outlined that the organisation has been successful in bidding for and facilitating 56 large-scale MICE events in Hong Kong this year, including 16 which are debuting in the city. The events span sectors ranging from innovation and technology to fintech, medical science and aviation.

“In June, Hong Kong will host the International Society for Stem Cell Research 2025 annual meeting for the first time,” she said. “For the aviation sector, we will welcome Routes World 2025 in September, and also Airspace Asia Pacific 2025 in December.”

These events are projected to attract approximately 170,000 MICE visitors from the Mainland and overseas, with total participation reaching 260,000.

Ms Shing added that with MICE tourism’s robust recovery, coupled with the ongoing restoration of international flight capacity, further growth in MICE visitors is expected.

Robust revival: Tourism Board Director & Business Development Team Lead of MICE Phoebe Shing expects further growth in MICE visitors following the sector’s strong recovery and the restoration of international flight capacity. source from news.gov.hk

“The Hong Kong Tourism Board will continue to promote MICE tourism, striving to bring more MICE events to Hong Kong. We will also solidify Hong Kong as the world’s meeting place in order to attract more high-yield visitors to our city.”

THE ATACAMA DESERT, Chile (AP) — Spring has finally arrived in the Southern Hemisphere and, in Chile, even the desert is blossoming.

Known as the driest nonpolar desert on Earth, a massive portion of the Atacama Desert has been covered in flowers after the El Niño weather pattern brought heavy rains to the region earlier this year. The unusually large amount of water allowed millions of seeds and bulbs to sprout and bloom, many of them after remaining dormant for decades.

“It is a unique phenomenon; there are more than 200 plant species,” Jorge Carabantes, head of the Protected Areas Department at the National Forest Corporation (CONAF), told The Associated Press. “This is a flowering event that is obviously extraordinary and unusual, very different from other blooms that occur elsewhere on the globe.”

The Atacama lies between the Pacific Ocean and the Andes Mountains, stretching some 1,600 kilometers (1,000 miles) all the way down the northern coast of Chile.

Although flowering is common during the transition from winter to spring, this year the rocky, brownish dunes that make up the desert’s traditional landscape have turned into a vibrant, colorful carpet of wildflowers during a historic Desierto Florido, or “flowering desert.”

“I always thought it was just going to be brown. That’s my image of a desert, just brown,” said Felix Banda, 51, who was born in Chile but has lived his whole life in Australia. “I knew that it had rained a lot, so I was expecting to see some beautiful greenery, but this is an incredible landscape,” he added about his first visit to the Atacama.

Between July and August, Chile recorded record rainfall in several regions, with some levels never seen since measurements began in the 1950s. The heavy precipitation was driven by a super El Niño, a climate phenomenon that causes sharp rises in global temperatures and is becoming increasingly strong.

“Since rainfall records began, these are the most significant figures in terms of volume: 160, 180, 190 millimeters (6 to 7 inches) in some locations,” explained biologist César Pizarro, head of the Biodiversity Conservation Section at CONAF Atacama. “What has happened now has an origin, and it is called ‘super El Niño.’”

The storms have caused flooding, havoc and devastation in several parts of Chile. In the north, they have also enabled the historic desert bloom, with an estimated coverage of ​​some 17,000 square kilometers (6,560 square miles) this year. This area is similar in size to the Santiago Metropolitan Region, the country’s largest and most populous area.

According to CONAF projections, this is expected to be the most intense and extensive Desierto Florido since 1997.

That's because, Pizarro said, the heavy rainfall activated the desert’s biological material, known as germplasm. This includes seeds, bulbs, and tubers but also the eggs of various invertebrates and reptiles.

The result is a true visual spectacle featuring more than 200 species of plants and flowers in a variety of colors, shapes and forms. Red and yellow ñañucas, purple rock purslane, white suspiros, orange terciopelos and the native garra de león, one of the desert’s most iconic species, have transformed the hills, plains and ravines of the Atacama.

“There are hills and mountain ranges where no greenery or flowers had been seen for more than 30 or 40 years,” Pizarro added. “This desert germplasm can remain (dormant) for many years, even decades. The hills this year are the best example of that.”

Whether arriving from within Chile or overseas, tourists are venturing into the remote, inhospitable areas of the Atacama to admire the millions of flowers adorning vast areas of the desert, stretching from the coast to the horizon.

According to data provided to the AP by the National Tourism Secretariat, the Atacama region is expected to see nearly 300,000 overnight trips by the time the natural phenomenon ends in November, positioning Desierto Florido as one of the region’s main tourist attractions this season.

Chef Franco Moya, 37, and his girlfriend traveled nearly 1,000 kilometers (about 620 miles) from Santa Cruz, a town in central Chile’s Colchagua Valley, to several parts of the desert to celebrate his birthday.

“It was striking to see how the flowers grow in such a dry place,” he said. “It’s my first time here ... and it was a truly surprising moment.”

Dew droplets cling to a flower among a carpet of blooms covering the Atacama Desert near Copiapo, Chile, Friday, Sept. 25, 2026. (AP Photo/Esteban Felix)

César Pizarro, head of conservation for the National Forestry Corporation (CONAF), takes photos of flowers in a carpet of blooms covering the Atacama Desert after rains near Copiapó, Chile, Thursday, Sept. 24, 2026. (AP Photo/Esteban Felix)

Dew droplets cling to a flower among a carpet of blooms covering the Atacama Desert near Copiapo, Chile, Friday, Sept. 25, 2026. (AP Photo/Esteban Felix)

The sun sets behind flowers in a carpet of blooms covering the Atacama Desert after rains near Copiapó, Chile, Thursday, Sept. 24, 2026. (AP Photo/Esteban Felix)

A carpet of flowers covers the Atacama Desert after rains near Copiapo, Chile, Thursday, Sept. 24, 2026. (AP Photo/Esteban Felix)