Luxurique President and CEO Naomi Mano shared her thoughts on the post-pandemic recovery of the MICE industry at a hybrid panel discussion organised by the Pacific Asia Travel Association (PATA).
The one-day event in December, held at Bangkok’s Sindhorn Kempinski Hotel, brought together industry leaders to contemplate the future and revival of tourism in the Asia Pacific region.
Appearing virtually from Tokyo, Mano stressed the importance of in-person meetings, incentives, conferences and exhibitions (MICE) and added that organisers needed to find ways to recreate in an online setting “the chemistry that happens when people meet.”
Mano, who is president of the Japan Mice Association, was also asked about the postponed Tokyo Olympics and, with Covid-19 cases rising around the world, the likelihood of the Games taking place in July 2021.
Following the successful hosting of a four-nation gymnastics competition in Tokyo in November, Mano said she remained optimistic that the quadrennial sporting spectacle would take place in the summer.
If Japan had opened up to visitors from overseas by then, she said, Luxurique would be ready “to help our corporate clients as well as our VIP clients feel safe and to be able to enjoy the Olympics.”
The other panellists were Supawan Teerarat of the Thailand Convention and Exhibition Bureau, Danny Levy of Worldwide Business Research and the Society for Incentive Travel Excellence’s Max Boontawee Jantasuwan.
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