What is MICE Tourism ?

The acronym MICE is applied inconsistently with the “E” sometimes referring to events and the “C” sometimes referring to conventions. MICE is used to refer to a particular type of tourism in which large groups, usually planned well in advance, are brought together for some particular purpose. Recently, there has been an industry trend towards using the term meetings industry to avoid confusion from the acronym. Other industry educators are recommending the use of "Events Industry" to be an umbrella term for the vast scope of the meeting and events profession.

Most components of MICE are well understood, perhaps with the exception of incentives. Incentive tourism is usually undertaken as a type of employee reward by a company or institution for targets met or exceeded, or a job well done. Unlike the other types of MICE tourism, incentive tourism is usually conducted purely for entertainment, rather than professional or educational purposes.

MICE tourism usually includes a well-planned agenda centered around a particular theme or topic, such as profession trade organization, a special interest group or an educational topic. Such tourism is often a specialized area with its own exhibition. (e.g.: IMEX, EIBTM, GIBTM,AIBTM,CIBTM and AIME and practices.