FOLLOWING its strategy developed last year to capture more MICE business, Chic Outlet Shopping Villages has intensified efforts this year with many new services introduced.
Since Q2, each of its 10 Villages has had a dedicated MICE manager to tailor-make offerings for clients, such as greeting the group with welcome drinks, carving out space for corporates to hold product launches and presentations, as well as providing special workshops like cooking classes and wine tasting. These can also be combined with visits to nearby tourism attractions.
Operator Value Retail’s head of MICE – global marketing, Marcelo Molinari, said the new initiatives are on top of existing ones such as private parking, VIP Cards with 10 per cent savings on purchases and customised F&B menus.
Additionally, in the days leading up to its participation at IT&CMA as exhibitor, Value Retail ran MICE workshops in Jakarta, Kuala Lumpur and Singapore to provide training and product updates. This was the first time the company held such workshops, which were organised by Aviareps, the local representative in these three countries. The sessions were attended by over 50 MICE professional players from each city.
Last year, Chic Outlet Shopping Villages received over 40,000 MICE visitors, generating 15 million euros (US$19.1 million) in sales, less than five per cent of total sales volume of all Chic Outlet Shopping Villages. This year, the target is to hit 70,000 MICE visitors and 30 million euros in sales.
The biggest and fastest-growing market is China, followed by South-east Asia (led by Malaysia, Indonesia, Thailand and Singapore), South America (led by Brazil and Mexico), the Middle East, (led by United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia) and Europe.
Molinari said the biggest challenge is the lack of awareness of Chic Outlet Shopping Villages and its many special offerings for the MICE segment.
Hence, in 4Q2013, Chic Outlet Shopping became a member of three MICE bodies, namely SITE, ICCA and MPI.
In May, the first Chic Outlet Shopping Village outside Europe opened in Suzhou, China. The second outlet in China, Shanghai Village, will open in June 2015.
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