Royal Caribbean targeted the MICE sector at IBTM Americas 2023
The renowned cruise company was present last week at the business tourism and meetings event held in Mexico and presented its offer for this sector
In the context of the IBTM Americas 2023 event held in Mexico City, Travel2latam had the opportunity to speak with Alberto Muñoz, Vice President of Royal Caribbean for Latin America, and Jorge Villaseñor, LATAM Business Development Manager at Royal Caribbean International.
What is your forecast for 2024 regarding the MICE sector in Royal Caribbean?
-Alberto Muñoz:Jorge is the head of development of the sector in Latin America and together with a team they work in the entire MICE sector, which in the past is an issue that had been handled very relatively and gave us good business, especially in Mexico. Now with the team they are being more proactive, seeking greater development and new opportunities not only in Mexico, which continues to be the leader, but also expanding throughout Latin America to find more opportunities. Royal Caribbean is the only cruise brand that has a MICE team 100% dedicated to Latin America and then at the product level we have 26 ships with different sizes and varied itineraries that can be adjusted to the different needs of what a conference or group is. of incentives, and then starting in December of this year we will have a ship leaving from Panama,
What are the results of IBTM Americas for you?
-Jorge Villaseñor: The event has been very interesting because it has given us the opportunity to connect with different business partners from both Mexico and Latin America, and also to make and create relationships with upcoming business partners. So it has been very interesting, we have generated opportunities to travel already in 2024 and we have really had a good experience and several opportunities.
Are those who came to the stand here surprised by the facilities or possibilities that the MICE field has within a cruise?
-Jorge Villaseñor: Absolutely, while our Royal brand is well known as the best cruise line for vacations or leisure trips, they are also set for business meetings and corporate events. We have a wide variety of benefits, including that we are the only shipping company that offers spaces for meetings and conferences, and in addition, we have spaces such as the theater or studios that can be adapted for different types of meetings, presentations, among others. We also include preferential rates for corporate groups along with corporate amenities programs that can bring a lot of savings for companies, and with all this sum of factors, Royal's value proposition is actually quite competitive and offers them different benefits such as the massification of logistics and profit.
-Alberto Muñoz: We are really working very hard to be able to position the segment with event organizers, generating support material so that they can apply with their clients and we are also developing a microsite where they can find all the very interesting materials and flyers that they will to be able to present to the client where they can appreciate the different value propositions that Royal Caribbean has for this entire sector.