14. Find the answers to these questions.

1. What are the prospects of MICE tourism development in Russia?

2. Who were the nominees at the Russian Business Travel & MICE Award-2016 ceremony?

3. What MICE industry event was organized by a top player in this market?

4. Why does Moscow account for 50-60% of all the business conferences, tourism and other related events in the country?

5. What gross market share does St. Petersburg account for?

6. Why is the hospitality industry in the epicenter of the MICE market?

7. What other key players apart from hotels are involved in providing MICE industry services?

15. Find the facts in the text that prove the following statements.

    1. All areas of corporate tourism firmly established themselves in modern business lexicon of the Russian economy.

    2. Moscow is the key player in organizing the business events in the country.

    3. MICE events mean additional revenues to hotels.

16. Find out about business travel to and from your country. Research some of the large companies in your country to see if they are involved in any of the business travel events.

    Business Travel

    Reading

17. Read and translate the text. Business Tourism

Business travel is one of the most stable working and highly profitable part of world tourism, and one of the youngest, too. Business travel or MICE (abbreviation from Meetings / Incentive / Conferences / Exhibitions) became a separate branch of tourism business in 1970s. First, business travel was considered by businessmen only as opportunities to have a good rest at the expense of the government or the company you work for. The situation changed greatly after 1998 when the number of entertaining trips has lowered and at the same time the number of corporate events has grown.

Business travellers are businessmen and government officials. They travel on different missions. They often travel to attend a convention. Convention tourism is a part of business tourism. It involves taking part in a conference or a seminar. Business travellers often travel to attend an international exhibition or a trade fair.

Business travel will develop faster than other types of tourism in future. There will be more business tourists and more tourist companies which will deal with business tourism. They will provide more services in future. They will collect information on markets and trade partners, provide economic data on monitors, arrange negotiations, offer pre-convention and post-convention tours.

18. In pairs discuss how business travel can benefit the tourism in a particular destination.

Example: increased hotel occupancy

19. Read the text to see if any of your ideas are mentioned.

Inside tourism: combining business with pleasure

The first major way in which business travel benefits tourism in general is that it brings more business to travel agents, transport providers, and hotels. Travel for business-related purposes can increase the level of leisure and recreational activity at the destination in a number of ways.

Extenders: Business travelers extending their visit to the destination – adding a number of days before or after – in order to enjoy the cultural, shopping, or sightseeing resources of the destination.

Guests: Business travelers being accompanied by guests (usually spouses or families) who engage in leisure tourism activities such as sightseeing excursions while at the destination.

Social programme: Business travelers themselves engaging in leisure or recreational activities as part of the social, networking, or relaxation element of the event attended.

Returners: Business travelers who have been impressed by the destination returning with their spouses or families for holidays or short breaks, or encouraging others to do so.

The second major way in which business travel benefits tourism is that it provides employment. Often this work is temporary – helping at conferences, trade fairs, or hospitality events – but these jobs can lead to longer term work and careers in tourism.

20. Which of these activities and tours are examples of ‘extenders’, ‘guests’, ‘social programme’, or ‘returners’?

1. Edinburgh: Special whiskey-tasting evening for delegates.

2. Vancouver: Come and see us again! Bring the family and get a discount.

3. Istanbul: While you work – sightseeing excursion for your partner.

4. Helsinki: Post-conference three-day Lapland tour

21. What extender, guest, and social programme activities would you include for a conference in your city or region?