BEIJING, Jan. 23, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Government officials of the city of Hangzhou, a key commercial, tourism and cultural hub in eastern China, have set for themselves the goal of transforming Hangzhou into an international meetings, travel incentives, conventions and exhibitions (MICE) destination and of rebranding the city to include the new role as a MICE destination as one of its leading attributes. As one of the first steps, Business Events Hangzhou, the government arm responsible for promoting and organizing MICE events in the city, held the "Hangzhou, Inspiring New Connections" brand promotion meeting yesterday. In the first half of 2017, Hangzhou plans to launch a series of MICE brand promotion events in line with the messaging around the new tagline, which will include the °CEO Fam Trip, the Hangzhou MICE Promotion Season and the Panoramic Map of Hangzhou as a MICE Destination. 

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Hangzhou becomes the first Chinese city with an official MICE destination brand

In 2016, conventions that took place in the city as a result of the Hangzhou MICE Special Offer Year Campaign brought in excess of 30 million yuan (approx. US$4.3 million), an excellent result given that the city's government only spent one fifteenth of that amount in promotional costs to generate that revenue. Hangzhou made the list of the world's top 100 MICE destination cities for the first time and was once again ranked among the top three Chinese MICE destination cities, according to the International Congress and Convention Association. 

At the end of last year, Hangzhou unveiled its new city tagline "Hangzhou, Inspiring New Connections" at the 9^th China Meetings Industry Convention, becoming the first Chinese city with an official MICE destination brand.

Hangzhou will kick off two major marketing campaigns during first half of 2017

Hangzhou plans to roll out two major marketing campaigns in 2017: the °CEO Fam Trip and the Hangzhou MICE Promotion Season.

The °CEO represents Hangzhou's °C experience officer，which is an offline marketing campaign inviting business executives from around the world to visit Hangzhou and experience the superior quality of the services that support MICE events and the MICE industry in the city. The world's top 500 companies, professional conference organizers as well as media and industry influencers are invited to attend the campaign.

The Hangzhou MICE Promotion Season, a cross-industry collaboration with China's leading e-commerce platforms, is designed to present Hangzhou's vast array of MICE resources to conference organizers, and is expected to lead directly to commitments from the organizers. 

In addition, Hangzhou-based businesses directly involved in or providing services to the city's MICE industry plan to attend the leading conferences and incentive travel exhibitions held in China and abroad.

Hangzhou plans further initiatives during 2017 to attract more international meetings to the city, as the next steps in raising its international stature as a genuine international conference destination.

SOURCE Business Events Hangzhou