Mice industry as a driver of economic development

The growing popularity of MICE tourism in Uzbekistan and 
abroad 
Vazira Ostanakulova 
Senior of the Faculty of the English Language-II, Samarkand State Institute 
of Foreign Languages 
 
Abstract.
The article discusses rapid development of Mice tourism industry 
worldwide, the ultimate goal of the well-known company and its business services, 
including exciting activities. The mentioned above acronym “MICE” is composed of 
negotiations, presentations, meetings, programs, tours for staff motivation, holidays, 
seminars, congresses, exhibitions and image events. 
Key words:
business tourism, meetings, project, incentives, programs, budget, 
conferences, acronym “MICE”, industry, exhibitions, plan, events, Mice in Uzbekistan
Business tourism industry, known as “Mice” has been growing momentum since 
2014 among international leading companies. The ultimate goal is assembled with 
organizing and conducting corporate events. Mice-tourism represents a lucrative, complex 
and perspective project containing meetings, incentives, conferences and exhibitions. The 
company provides the complete business services as air and train tickets, visa support, 
transfer, hotel reservation, team building, countryside trips in Uzbekistan in particular and 
the entire world.
The organization of these tours has huge advantages. First, Mice tourism does not 
have seasonality, so hotels that serve such guests are full at any time of the year. Secondly, 
customer companies usually pay three to four times more than vacationing tourists do for 
high speed and good quality of service delivery. 
The income from this type of tourism goes to the state budget through taxes. In 
addition, the organizers, when conducting additional excursion programs, advertise the 
region as a tourist zone, so that guests have a desire to return here again. They also work 
closely with the local population (for example, restaurants with national cuisine, souvenir 
shops, etc.). 
The most appropriate and commonly used synonyms related to the word “MICE” are 
“meeting industry” and “business tourism” are aimed at: 

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1.
Meetings with business partners; 
2.
Taking part in professional events;
3.
Establishing business contacts with new partners;
4.
Sending personnel to training;
5.
Conducting press-tour; 
6.
Drawing investors', partners' and clients' attention to the brand by organizing annual 
events. 
The MICE industry includes a wide range of different types of activities from the 
distribution and promotion of information, the development of entertainment programs or 
content to the technical support of the meeting. Accordingly, specialists in this field are 
always in demand. 
This business tourism industry originated in the West in such countries as Great 
Britain, France and Germany has gained popularity in the countries of Southeast Asia 
(China, Indonesia, Vietnam, etc.) and North America in a fairly short period. Today, 
according to the International Business Tourism Association, as of 2014, the United States 
is the world leader in the business tourism market.
Moreover, the company has spread throughout Greece with 151 hotels and 799 
conference halls; in Turkey, including 188 hotels and 1551 conference halls; in amazing 
France; in Italy with 325 hotels and 2476 conference halls. It also should be noted that 
current numbers are only increasing monthly that result the greatest number of Spanish 
hotels (383) and conference halls (2751).
MICE tourism has also attracted Swiss population’s attention. World-famous events 
as Gala Night Kursaal, Fashion Day and Prudential Financial were held right in the heart 
of Switzerland with the help of Mice industry professionals. 
Regarding the last few years of the Pacific World Destination Index, by the end of 
February 2018, MICE is considered the most popular destination for tourism in the United 
States, France, Spain, Monaco, Indonesia and Thailand. The International Congress and 
Convention Association (ICCA) report that 1,288 corporate events were organized in 168 
countries in 2017. The majority of these partner events were held in the United States 
(941), Germany (682), England (592), Spain (564), and Italy (515). According to the 
statistics Italy and Spain continue to develop the recently released business tourism sector.
Currently, Mice tourism organizes not only various exciting and interesting team relay 
races, but also intellectual and creative tasks in the historical cities of Uzbekistan, 
designed for team interaction. In addition, the program includes horse riding on camels, 

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horses and donkeys, active recreation on lakes and reservoirs, extreme routes in the 
mountains, unusual competitions and much more. In fact, according to the organizers 
themselves, this kind of entertainment gives a special atmosphere not only to the 
participants, but also to the whole mice team. You feel a surge of strength and new ideas, 
and the team spirit is strengthened to achieve the best results. 
Over the past few years, the Mice industry on the territory of our Republic can provide 
all sorts of services, including transport to other cities in Central Asia and also 
accommodation. The company provides passenger cars (business and VIP class), 
comfortable tourist buses and minibuses. 
The Republic of Uzbekistan has fully focused all its efforts on creating promising types 
of tourism development. The main goal of attracting tourists to our country is to improve 
both domestic and foreign tourism. For this purpose, cultural and entertainment, sports, 
exhibitions and other international events are regularly organized by The State Committee 
of The Republic of Uzbekistan for Tourism Development.
The Cabinet of Ministers of the Republic of Uzbekistan developed and approved the 
Plan for the development of MICE tourism in Uzbekistan, thanks to which 20 international 
MICE events were held in 2019. Among them in the capital of the country there was the 
exhibition “Road Show” with the participation of representatives of the Kyrgyz Republic, 
which was held on April 24, the international conference" Renaissance of pilgrimage 
tourism at the crossroads of the Silk Road in Samarkand on may 24-25, and the 2nd 
international festival of national costume " in Shakhrisabz on March 21-22, which 
included various seminars. In addition, the MICE industry at the very beginning of spring 
on March 1, 2020, even before the introduction of quarantine measures, managed to 
organize another type of event with representatives of Russian companies.