The MICE (Meetings, Incentives, Conventions, Exhibitions) sector of the tourism industry is the most lucrative, which is the reason why countries all over the world compete for the hosting of such events. Participants in these events spend more money than the average tourists – they stay in more expensive hotels, eat at fine dining restaurants, and shop for more expensive items because they usually are company officers traveling on an expense account.
This is why it is very important for a country to have venues that can host these events for its tourism industry to grow by leaps and bounds. Manila already has the Philippine International Convention Center (PICC), the World Trade Center, the SMX Convention Centers, and in the suburbs, the Philippine Arena.
However, other parts of our country need a large, well-managed, dependable venue to attract MICE events and share in its bounty. The good news is that SM Hotels and Conventions Corp. (SMHCC) recently opened the SMX Convention Center in Clark, to service the MICE requirements of Central Luzon, a much-needed tourism infrastructure in the area, especially with the recent reopening of the renovated Clark International Airport.
The brand new facility is the second stand-alone convention center after SMX Manila. It has a gross leasable space of more than 4000 square meters, comprising of two-level event venues and a mezzanine floor for offices. What makes it more attractive is its location. It is adjacent to Park Inn by Radisson Clark and the booming SM City Clark development.
With three trade halls, three function rooms, and fourteen smaller meeting rooms, this new MICE icon is well within the integrated business and leisure hub interconnected by the SM Sky Line providing seamless synergy among the retail, entertainment, corporate, and educational establishments in the complex. It is a 16-minute drive from Clark airport and a 20-minute drive from the Clark East Perimeter Road.
SMHCC Executive Vice-President Peggy Angeles declared that this new MICE venue’s presence in Clark solidifies the company’s unprecedented growth and optimism as Clark Freeport is poised to become the preferred MICE and tourism destination in the Asia-Pacific region by 2030. At the inauguration, she said, “What you have seen today are just a few of the countless and creative ways of transforming these event spaces at SMX into slice-of-life representations that exude dynamism, rhythm, and energy.”
The ribbon-cutting ceremony was led by SMHCC President Elizabeth Sy, Mabalacat Mayor Cris Garbo, chairman of the SM Prime Holdings Executive Committee Hans Sy, SMHCC EVP Angeles, SMHCC SVP for Operations Walid Wafik, Clark Development Corp.’s Dennis Legaspi, Bases Conversion and Development Authority’s Michelle de Vera, Department of Tourism Region 3 Division Chief Ronsan Pelariza, and SMX Convention Center Clark Senior Branch Manager Miguel Morato.
Currently, the SMHCC portfolio has nine hotel properties with a combined inventory of more than 2,200 rooms and over 41,000 square meters of leasable convention space—Taal Vista Hotel, Pico Sands Hotel, Conrad Manila, Radisson Blu Cebu, Pak Inn by Radisson Clark, Park Inn by Radisson Davao, Park Inn by Radisson Iloilo, Park Inn by Radisson North EDSA, Park Inn by Radisson Bacolod, and the SMX Convention Centers and Trade Halls.
More information on SMX Convention Center Clark may be obtained from (632) 8857-0100 or www.smhotels.com.ph
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