MICE Hub, the new forum of FBT&E and Newlink Spain, analyzes the smart transformation of destinations
Under the title "The transformation of destinations", MICE Hub by Newlink The Engagement Company gathered more than fifty professionals from the events and corporate travel sector last Tuesday, June 17 at Impact Hub Madrid Gobernador to discuss the impact of artificial intelligence on the role of the organizer and to learn about the MICE offer of various international destinations in a dynamic way.
The forum is a new project launched by Forum Business Travel & Events in collaboration with Newlink Spain to detect market trends and share experiences and knowledge among meeting and event planning professionals. As Natalia Ros, co-founding partner of FBT&E, and María de Pereda, Senior Vice President Tourism at Newlink Spain, said at the presentation, «we hope that MICE Hub is just the beginning of a long journey of inspiring collaborations, where we continue to add ideas, talent and destinations».
The day began with a session entitled «The intelligent, non-artificial organizer», moderated by Óscar García, co-founder of Forum Business Travel & Events. It was attended by Iván García, co-founder and CTO of EventsCase; Fátima Barbero, Team Lead Customer Lifecycle Marketing at Forto; and Jordi Planas, Director of Innovation at Somos Experiences.
The speakers discussed the limits between automation and the human touch, the actual use of tools such as virtual assistants, facial detection or simultaneous translation, and the new strategic role of the organizer in a technological environment.
Iván Garcíaemphasized the importance of contextualizing the use of AI and warned that, «although the technologyía advances fast, the application in companies can be slower». Fátima Barbero advocates for an internal implementation that frees up time for strategic tasks. Jordi Planas, for his part, focused on the need to "improve training to obtain better results" and recommended the use of local AI to preserve privacy.
The second part of the event was a gamified dynamic under the title "Destination Game Learning", in which attendees participated in an interactive contest to discover the competitive advantages for the MICE segment of destinations such as Qatar, Malta, Hungary and Costa Rica.Winners won prizes such as hotel stays, topical products and airline tickets.
Each destination presented unique experiences: from gymkhanas in dhows and the emir's stables in Qatar, to gala dinners in historic fortresses in Malta, tree planting in Costa Rica as part of the MICE Forest project, or the chance to rent the Parliament terrace in Budapest.
The event was carbon offset thanks to the collaboration with the MICE Forest project in Costa Rica, a further sign of FBT&E and Newlink Spain's commitment to sustainability.