If the airline alliances are most often illustrated by the integration of new member companies or theopening airport loungesBut that doesn't mean they've forgotten about MICE customers. SkyTeam has had a dedicated programme in place for several years, Global Meetingsto facilitate the organisation of events. This portal, which, like the airline alliance, has worldwide coverage, enables it to collect invaluable data. This data is now being used to identify most attractive MICE destinations for organising events.
According to the 2023 rankings unveiled at the end of January by SkyTeam, Paris was unsurprisingly one of the top 10 most popular destinations last year. Amsterdam, London and Barcelona are the other cities which dominate the European scene. In the Middle East, the ranking is dominated by Dubai. Nairobi and Kigali are, according to SkyTeam the two MICE hubs on the African continent. Finally, in the Americas, Los Angeles, Miami and Mexico occupy the top spots.
Alongside this review of the past year, SkyTeam is also looking ahead to the trends of 2024. Indeed, the Global Meetings programme enables organisers to register their event up to five years in advance, giving the alliance a certain visibility over the coming months. According to SkyTeam, eight MICE destinations stand out in 2024. These are Barcelona, Cancun, Buenos Aires, Las VegasMilan, Nairobi, Paris and Prague.
The publication of these rankings is also an opportunity for the alliance to take stock of the post-Covid recovery. And according to the alliance's CEO, 2023 has been a particularly busy year for its MICE teams. " Demand for Global Meetings increased by more than 75 % in 2023 compared to the previous year, with members carrying more than 97,000 delegates to attend hundreds of events around the world"says Patrick Roux.
