World Travel & Tourism Council (WTTC) Global Summit is taking place in Madrid, Spain. Moderated by Nick Ross, travel and tourism industry representatives discuss about city tourism. They discussed what cities offer for travelers, what is MICE means for cities.
Hiromi Tagawa, Chairman of the Board, JTB Corp said that cities should have a good selection of nightlife offerings so that tourists should not go to their hotels after dinner but continue to enjoy more of the city.
He also mentioned about the importance of shopping. Mr. Tagawa also said especially for Japan culture is an important part that they want to show visitors. We would like travelers to buy certain kind of memories when they visit Japan.
When it is asked MICE for city tourism, Roger Dow; President & CEO, U.S. Travel Association said, "It's where business, commerce is done". Mr. Dow gave two examples: Orlando and Las Vegas.
Orlando has Disney and Las Vegas has gaming. As tourism grows, it gets more diverse. In the beginning both cities had no world class restaurants but now they house several world class restaurants and shopping facilities. Orlando becomes the most visited travel destination in the United States with more than 62 million people visited in 2014.
When they asked their most popular destination to travel, Paul Griffiths, CEO, Dubai Airports said: "Paris", Hiromi Tagawa said: "New York", Isabel Borrego, Secretary of State for Tourism, Spain said: Cape Town, and Roger Dow said: "Istanbul
