Finland keen to court Asian MICE groups

Toivonen

The Finland Convention Bureau is looking to attract more business events and incentives from Asia, in particular five key markets in the region that show the most potential for growth.

Mervi Toivonen, head, Finland Convention Bureau, told TTGmice at the recently-concluded ITB Asia that these markets were China, India, Japan, South Korea and Singapore. Incidentally, these countries are also key Asian markets for Visit Finland’s leisure segment.

Toivonen: Finland has identified five Asian markets to tap on for corporate events

To demonstrate their seriousness, a marketing representative was appointed in India earlier this year. There are also marketing representatives appointed in China and Japan that work with account managers in the global sales team in Helsinki to further develop their respective markets.

Toivonen shared: “We are present at this show (ITB Asia) to learn about the needs of the Asian markets and how we can cater to their needs.”

She further shared that Finland’s key industries were ICT, pharmaceutical, clean technology and healthcare. The country was also comfortable in catering for group sizes of 250 people and below.

Heli Mende, director, Visit Finland’s head of global sales promotion added that Visit Finland was present at ITB Asia to promote the destination as a business events destination – especially locations like Helsinki, Lakeland and Lapland.

“We have excellent infrastructure, experienced DMCs, and we are a peaceful nation. We also have conference venues that are of international standard. Earlier in July, Helsinki hosted the Trump-Putin meeting with a lead time of just two weeks,” Mende remarked.

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