The determinants of MICE tourism developement in ho chi minh city (how to grow MICE tourism in MICE tourism)

RESEARCH PROJECT BMBR5103 THE DETERMINANTS OF MICE TOURISM DEVELOPMENT IN HO CHI MINH CITY How to grow the tourists in MICE tourism?... Table 3_ Chart of International arrivals HCMC 200

RESEARCH PROJECT

(BMBR5103)

THE DETERMINANTS OF MICE TOURISM DEVELOPMENT IN HO CHI MINH CITY (How to grow the tourists in MICE tourism?)

ABSTRACT……… 6

CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION ……….7

MICE TOURISM PURPOSE AND RESEARCH DIRECTION: ……….….7

1.1 Research Objectives and the Scope of the Research:……… …8

1.2 The scope: ……….… 8

1.3 Problem Questions: ……….… 8

1.4 Limitation of the research: ……….…… 8

1.5 Research significance: ……… 9

CHAPTER 2: LITERATURE REVIEW……….… 9

2.1 Research definition of MICE tourism: ……… … 9

2.2 Related research: ……… 10

2.3 Related Model in an analysis: ……… 11

2.4 General Information: ……… ….12

2.4.1 What are the benefits? ……… …………14

2.4.2 General characteristics of MICE tourism: ……… …14

2.4.2.1 Products MICE: ……… ….15

2.4.2.2 Objects MICE tourists: ……… … 16

2.5 Over view of Ho Chi Minh ……… …18

2.6 Status of MICE tourism in Ho Chi Minh……… …19

2.6.1 Status of business networks serving tourists conference in Ho Chi Minh City today: ……… ….19

2.6.2 Sources of tourism personnel City: ……… …29

2.6.2.1 Actual labor: ……… ….29

2.6.4.2 Difficulties: ……… … 31

CHAPTER 3: RESEARCH MODEL (Figure into the relationship between the factors affecting the growth of MICE tourism – the SATISFATION OF CUSTOMERS) ….32 CHAPTER 4: RESEARCH METHODOLOGY……… ………34

4.1 Research Strategy: ……….……….34

4.2 Scale Construction: ……….……….38

4.2.1 The scale of the perception about the hotels reputation:………39

4 2.2 The scale of the hotels facilities ………40

4.2.3 The scale of the perception about hospitality services: ………41

4.2.4 The perception of the human resource: ……….………41

4.3 Summary: ……… 42

CHAPTER 5: THE ANALYSIS OF THE CUSTOMER ’SATISFACTION………42

5.1 Introduction: ……….43

5.2 Analyzing the relationship of the factors that influencing the satisfaction of the customers at the 5 stars hotel: ………43

5.2.1 Mismatch between supplying MICE services and customers satisfaction………….…….44

5.2.2 Mismatch in reality and expectation……….……… 44

5.3 The satisfaction analysis at 5 stars hotel: ……… ………45

5.3.1 Age group from 21- 30: ……… ……….45

5.3.2 Age group from 31- 40: ……… ………….46

5.3.3 Age group over 40: ……….………….47

5.4 Analysis of factors affecting customers satisfaction……….……… 47

5.4.1 Age group 21- 30……….……… 48

5.4.2 Age group 31- 40: ……….49

5.4.3 Age group over 40: ……… ………50

5.5 The regression Analysis and assessment of the factors affecting satisfaction of customers:………50

CHAPTER 6: SOLUTIONS……… 55

HOW TO DEVELOP MICE TOURISM IN HO CHI MINH CITY? 6.1 Forecast of international visitors to Ho Chi Minh City in 2020: ………55

6.2 Forecast of demand for hotels in 2015: ……… ……56

6.3 Specific objectives from 2020: ………57

6.4 THE SOLUTIONS TO DEVELOP MICE TOURISM IN HO CHI MINH 2020: 60 6.4.1 Solution 1: new product development……… 62

6.4.2 Solution 2: Improve infrastructure serving MICE ……….62

6.4.3 Solution 3: Strengthen promotion………64

6.5 The suggestion to relevant departments and offices: ………65

6.6 For the People's Committee of HCMC, the provincial departments and agencies concerned: ………65

Chapter 7: CONCLUSION ………66

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Table 1_Tourism accommodation facilities in HCMC 2013

Table 2_Growth of international arrivals, businessmen to HCMC 2000 - 2009

Table 3_ Chart of International arrivals HCMC 2000 – 2009

Table 4_ Chart of Businessmen in HCMC compare to Vietnam (%)

Table 5_MICE facilities in HCMC 2010

Table 6_ Statistic human resource for MICE tourism in HCMC 2009

Table 7_ The hotel’s survey result

Table 8: The research study sample

Table 9: The scale of the perception about the hotels reputation

Table 10: The scale of the influent of hotel facilities

Table 11: The scale of the perception about hospitality services

Table 12: The scale of the human resources in hotel

Table 13: The Important Factors – Age group 21 – 30

Table 14: The Important Factors- age group 31 – 40

Table 15: The Important Factors – age group 40 +

Table 16: Reasons for dissatisfaction Age Group 21- 30

Table 17: Reasons for the customers choosing another MICE location – Age Group 21- 30 Table 18: Reasons for dissatisfaction – Age Group 31- 40

Table 19: Reasons for customers choosing the new MICE location – Age Group 31- 40 Table 20: Reasons for dissatisfaction – Age Group 40+

Table 21: Reasons for customers choosing the new MICE location – Age Group 40+ Table 22: Model Summary

Table 23: ANOVA table

Table 24: The Coefficient result

Table 25_Estimate international arrivals HCMC to 2020

Table 26_Estimate the demand of MICE facilities

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Figure 1: Respondent’s opinions on satisfaction of international customers and domestic customers

Figure 2: The growth of MICE tourism depends on satisfaction of customers

Figure 3: How customers satisfied when organizing MICE event in 5 stars hotel

Figure 4: Opinions on whether Figure 4: Opinions on whether international customers demand higher than domestic customers.

APPENDIX I: QUESTIONAIRE……….72 APPENDIX II:………75

APPENDIX III: THE INTERVIEW QUESTIONS………77 APPENDIX IV: THE ANALYSIS AND EVALUATION OF SCALE TO MEASURE OF THE

PERCEPTION ABOUT THE COMPANY OF EMPLOYEE…… 78 APPENDIX V: THE ANALYSIS AND EVALUATION OF SCALE TO MEASURE OF THE

PERCEPTION ABOUT THE HOTEL FACILITIES……… 80 APPENDIX VI: THE ANALYSIS AND EVALUATION OF SCALE TO MEASURE OF THE

PERCEPTION ABOUT THE HOTEL SERVICES……… 81 APPENDIX VII: THE ANALYSIS AND EVALUATION OF SCALE TO MEASURE THE

PERCEPTION ABOUT THE HUMAN RESOURCES 83

ABSTRACT

With the developing of economic and human resources, and realizing the importance of the tourism industry, Ho Chi Minh City is striving to become a destination for tourists Understanding the nature advantages and the strengths of local, Ho Chi Minh City determined spearhead development of the tourism sector to 2015 is the MICE tourism

The purpose of this study was to determine the subject business situation, the advantages and disadvantages of the services for MICE tourism in Ho Chi Minh City Thereby, the author gives some suggestions and offers some solutions to improve operational efficiency of the business unit for Ho Chi Minh City in the near future, including:

1 To explore the academic literature related to the MICE industry development

2 To analyze the opportunities and profits of MICE tourism market

3 To research hotel business of MICE tourism in Ho Chi Minh City

4 To analyze hotel business of MICE tourism in Ho Chi Minh City

5 Thereby, propose some solutions to improve the business efficiency of MICE tourism in Ho Chi Minh City

The researchers is foreseeing to adopt an experimental methodology so that to find out the practical solution of MICE tourism in Ho Chi Minh City The following research tools will be used:

1 Survey tools

2 Field-study tools

The target populations in this study are the customers staying in Ho Chi Minh City; the target population being the group from which the researcher aims to access a sample from

Based on the dimensions identified from the study, components of a decision-making model

in MICE tourism market investments can then be defined Dimensions were grouped together from MICE events that share common characteristics and then ranked in terms of their importance on the case study firm Based on the key dimensions of MICE tourism market in

Ho Chi Minh City, an investment project addressing key dimensions of MICE tourism market were developed Elements of a decision-making model for the project were then identified based on their relevancy to the investment needs These dimensions as well as the elements of

a decision-making model will then be utilized to develop a frame of reference for valuing MICE tourism market investments in Ho Chi Minh City

CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION

MICE TOURISM PURPOSE AND RESEARCH DIRECTION:

With the advantages of geographical position, natural resources and travel Humanities,

Vietnam's people friendly and hospitable, from 1995 to now, Vietnam tourism growth are

strong International visitors to Vietnam increased by an average of 11% / year, domestic

tourists increased by an average of 10% / year International cooperation and tourism market

expanding, Vietnam has signed bilateral cooperation agreements and commitments with

international organizations on the development of tourism Facilities also growing in both

quantity and quality, to meet the needs of visitors to welcome Vietnam Moreover, according

to the World Tourism Organization, in the future, as infrastructure development, the

Vietnamese will increasingly improve the quality and competitiveness of tourism,

particularly MICE tourism

Ho Chi Minh City is no exception With the continuous development of economic and human

resources, and perceived importance of the tourism industry, Ho Chi Minh City is striving to

become an ideal destination for tourists Understand the advantages of natural and local

strengths, identify City spearheaded development of the tourism sector between now and

2015 is the MICE tourism However, due to objective reality and initial development,

practice, Ho Chi Minh City has been largely exploited tourist meetings, seminars and

conferences should be within the scope of this article is solely secondary studies in tourism

and would like to travel for short conference

Questionnaires and surveys:

In this topic, the questionnaire survey to investigate tourists (80% is the object MICE answer

to Ho Chi Minh City and 20% of the City organization MICE) travel preferences , spending

tourists, quality of service, quality of human resources the questionnaire was designed

mainly closed questions, not too hard, are arranged from easy to difficult, question contents

make respondents said the most honest answer Time to investigate the direct questionnaire

asked each person must not exceed 5 minutes

Expert opinion:

To find solutions for tourism development conference for Ho Chi Minh City is an area not

simple, is related to socio-economic sectors So during the planning and implementation of

promotion plans are required referendum reputable experts in the fields concerned, most

experts with experience in organized tourism conference or MICE

1.1 Research Objectives and the Scope of the Research:

Main objective:

The purpose of this study was to determine the subject business situation, the advantages and disadvantages of the services for MICE tourism in Ho Chi Minh City Thereby, the author gives some suggestions and offers some solutions to improve operational efficiency of the business unit for Ho Chi Minh City’s management team in the near future

Specific objective:

 To explore the academic literature related to the MICE industry development

 To analyze the opportunities and profits of MICE tourism market

 To research hotel business of MICE tourism in Ho Chi Minh City

 To analyze hotel business of MICE tourism in Ho Chi Minh City

 Thereby, propose some solutions to improve the business efficiency of MICE tourism in Ho Chi Minh City

- What are the Characteristic of MICE Tourism?

- How can the Ho Chi Minh City improve and develop the effectiveness for the MICE Tourism?

- How can we satisfy the demand of customers and develop the revenue of MICE tourism?

1.4 Limitation of the research:

1.4.1 Limitation of space: the research does at Ho Chi Minh City

1.4.2 Limitation of time: the research does from June 2014 to August 2014

1.5 Research significance:

In globalization, are facing many opportunities and challenges These challenges also require enterprises, especially hotels must do innovation, improve self-image to be able to stand in hospitality market Recognizing this importance, Ho Chi Minh City has continuously build and upgrade facilities, implement business strategies more effectively, build brand image and its customers However, Ho Chi Minh City must be proactive in attracting visitors

to the hotel by figuring out their market Base on the Ho Chi Minh City’s tourism strategy which focuses MICE tourism market and defines this is a main market to increase customers This research could help Ho Chi Minh City can asses the opportunities and challenges of MICE tourism

CHAPTER 2: LITERATURE REVIEW

2.1 Research definition of MICE tourism:

The global tourism industry can be divided between leisure tourism and business tourism However, they both require the same infrastructures in terms of accommodations, transports and communications, entertainment, information services and so on (Cooper et al., 2008) The former refers to people whose travel is part of his employment, and as a consequence essential and organized on a regular basis As far as the latter is concerned, it is

a broad term used to define the business travel industry Meetings, trade fairs and exhibitions, incentive travel and corporate hospitality are one sector within business tourism The MICE tourism stands for Meetings, Incentives, Conferences and Exhibitions IAPCO (the International Association of Professional Congress Organizers) publishes a book called

"Meetings Industry Terminology" which functions as a dictionary for the meetings industry These are the definitions as put out by IAPCO:

Meeting - general term indicating the coming together of a number of people in one place, to confer or carry out a particular activity Frequency: can be on an ad hoc basis or according to a set pattern, as for instance annual general meetings, committee meetings, etc

Incentive - meeting event as part of a program which is offered to its participants to reward a previous performance

Conference - participatory meeting designed for discussion, fact-finding, problem solving and consultation As compared with a congress, a conference is normally smaller in scale and more select in character - features which tend to facilitate the exchange of information The term "conference" carries no special connotation as to frequency Though not inherently limited in time, conferences are usually of limited duration with specific objectives

Exhibition - Events at which products and services are displayed

Recently, there has been an industry driven initiative to not use the "MICE Market" label and instead say "The Meetings Industry" which encompasses all the above

In conclusion, Meetings, Incentives, Conferences and Exhibitions are always happening and been known for centuries, it gathered many customers and the movement of passengers from one place to another is always create opportunities for business travel company

2.2 Related research:

Davidson (2008, p.73) describes business tourism as being composed of “people travelling for purposes which are related to their work” To Swarbrooke and Horner (2007, p.3) business tourism is a broad term which refers to “all the experience of the business traveller” and using the term “tourism” it refers to people who stay at least one night away from home, while business travel refers to day trips for business reason In addition, according to Davidson and Cope (2003), business travel is composed of two different categories that are individual business travel and business tourism The former refers to people whose travel is part of his employment, and as a consequence essential and organized

on a regular basis As far as the latter is concerned, it is a broad term used to define the business travel industry Meetings, trade fairs and exhibitions, incentive travel and corporate hospitality are one sector within business tourism The employee participates in “occasional word-related group event” (Davidson 2008, p.73) Actually, the terms of business tourism and MICE industry are used interchangeably

In addition, the MICE industry is an all-year-round activity even if some low seasons can be found in summer and winter months, as a consequence people can be full-time employed (Rogers, 2003; Davidson, 2007; Lawrence and McCabe, 2001) As Davidson (2008, p.76) stresses business traveler represents “the bread and butter” market throughout the year As a consequence, the MICE industry extends business to the off-peak season for

some sun destinations (Swarbrooke and Horner, 2007); in this way it complements leisure tourism However, Swarbrooke and Horner (2007) stress that business tourism has an element

of seasonality as it is generally at a low ebb during summer months and usually takes place during the week from Monday to Thursday (Davidson and Cope, 2003)

As a result of these aforementioned benefits of the MICE industry over leisure tourism, an increasing number of destinations are pursuing this lucrative market (López, 2008; Swarbrooke and Horner, 2007; Davidson, 2008) MICE related travel is one of the fastest growing sectors of the global tourism industry (Campiranon and Arcodia, 2007) Due

to the increasing competition, having a unified MICE destination image is of prime necessity (Chon and Weber, 2002)

All over the world, the acronym MICE encompassing for meetings, incentives, conferences and exhibitions are widely used (Rogers, 2003) Notwithstanding with this all-encompassing acronym people can understand that it is only one activity The reality is far more different because it encompasses four separate and distinct activities

As a conclusion, as explained in this part the MICE industry is plagued by varying definitions Thus, the lack of an appropriate and standardized terminology all around the world makes the comparison of data very difficult For instance, some events would be classified as a meeting in one company due to its size and in others it would be too small to

be considered as a meeting Hence, this limitation will be carefully taken into account while conducting this research

2.3 Related Model in an analysis:

Besides the analysis of the MICE industry in terms of sectors presented above, it can also be subdivided in terms of stakeholders (Swarbrooke and Horner, 2007)

Indeed, the MICE industry is characterized by its high complexity and high fragmentation where lots of buyers, supplier organisations and businesses are involved (Swarbrooke and Horner, 2007) Rutherford (1990 cited in McCabe et al., 2000) describes the process of planning and developing an event like the design of a wheel The event is the centre of the wheel and the different spokes represent all the suppliers involved in a business event and they act as intermediaries between the centre and the edge of the wheel, where the participants are All the components of the wheel are interdependent and must be coordinated

so as to have a successful event (Page, 2003)

In the Figure 1, the structure of business travel and tourism is represented and it also shows that all the stakeholders are interdependent

2.4 General Information:

The tourism industry in the world appear along with the development of the handicraft

industry, trade and religious activities in the world But tourism is only beginning orientation

and planning at the end of the nineteenth century So far, the tourism industry has indeed

been clearly defined classification of the types of tourism with the aim of serving the tourists,

or more precisely the different markets such as tourist resorts, sports tourism, eco-tourism, ,

and type that this paper would like to discuss is one type of MICE-tourism conferences and

seminars

MICE- abbreviation of Meetings (Meetings), Incentives (Commendation),

Conventions (conference, workshop) and Exhibitions (Exhibition), this is the type of tourism

synthesis MICE delegations usually large (up to several hundred guests) and particularly high

levels of spending than the normal tour (as calculated by the travel companies, tourism is

worth 3-6 times higher than normal travel)

MICE tourism is bringing huge revenues for the tourism industry in many countries

around the world Meetings (meeting) whether in the field of Economics, Sports, Culture,

Politics can bring value to a regional tourism For example, the Olympic Festival, the event

Seagames meetings, provides business opportunities for the tourism industry, and of course

many other industries The event attracted many domestic and international visitors to

participate and cheer Reward (incentive) as well as meeting nature, but these gatherings are

often due to a company or a body of people organized to reward employees And to reward

customers or dealers, the company will organize conferences, seminars (convention or

conference) Besides, conferences and seminars are also international fora, where the

participants are the objects of tourism Meanwhile, the exhibition (Exhibition) is related to

the fairs or international exhibition, which is part of the group or individual enterprises and

individual businesses to attract a lot of media and media other information, it is also the

prospect of the travel company

Statistics from the World Tourism Organization showed that the values obtained from

the MICE market worldwide is about 300 billion dollars annually and its relationship with

other economic sectors generate value close 5490 billion, accounting for over 10% of world

GDP There are many countries understand and grasp the opportunities of MICE as America,

France, Germany, Spain, Austria or separate Asia Hong Kong, Thailand, China Hong

Kong Convention Centre restaurant year attracting over 4.5 million visitors attended MICE

events Thailand is currently the world's major destinations for MICE, the estimated annual

MICE accounts for about 15% of the total number of international tourists to travel to

Thailand In Vietnam, the tourism and business in the new aviation since 2002, according to

information from Saigontourist, at the international conference on recent MICE, Ho Chi

Minh City and Hanoi are the business MICE is evaluating two potential new destinations

MICE clients have grown tired of the old familiar places in Asia, such as Bangkok, Bali,

Manila, Kuala Lumpur plus the fear of terrorism, to Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City if timely

motion, can grasp this opportunity

MICE Tourism brings

2.4.1 What are the benefits?

So far, there are also various types of tourism products combine nature, such as

combined medical tourism, tourism combines religious study culture, tourist resorts But

the kind of this single human nature, not a focus on developing strong due to the amount

requested, much less than the volume of customers served once great yet Particularly MICE

tourism has been the organizer of the tour of the world special interest because it provides a

huge source of profit, and create a lot of jobs and create a cultural exchange to keep the

national

According to survey data of associations, conferences world (ICCA) is:

-Average expenditure in international meetings and 343 USD / day / person

- Average spending in a year of international meetings, large companies in the world is $ 3

billion

- Spend a total of meetings, travel rewards (domestic and international) to reach $ 280 billion

You can list the following 5 major benefits:

- The profit is higher than other forms of travel The business travel, the hotel will have more

high-value contracts, the number of tourists through seminars, conferences

- Focus on the investment in infrastructure, technical infrastructure of local government as

well as private entities to serve the MICE tourists

- Click for the development, research, search, exploit new tourist destinations and tourism

products will increasingly diverse, rich, higher quality customer service MICE- object object

discerning guest requires quality and superior service

- Create motivation, raise the level of professional service, foreign language proficiency,

skilled workforce in the tourism industry

- Enhance the value of a country's image in general, and of a city, in particular areas of the

world

2.4.2 General characteristics of MICE tourism:

2.4.2.1 Products MICE:

MICE is a range of tourism products and services especially because this product has

brought the distinctive characteristics of services in general, it has many differences

compared to pure tourism products

 The influencing factors:

As a tourism product, of course, also influenced MICE by objective factors such as

time and location Often purely for tourism, tourist season is a clear distinction in the peak

season and in low season But for MICE tourism is affected by the level is not much time for

this product is dominated by elements of work, not merely a tourist element, for example,

demonstrates this is: a firm fixed-time board member meeting at the beginning of the fourth

quarter, then of course their annual conference will combine rest of the members in about

October Location where the conference may be familiar locations, famous for organizing

conference events, or possibly even the new places bring different guests, or is which has

important implications for upcoming events, eg ASEAN summit held in one of the countries

in the Asean region

 Market:

Domestic MICE: MICE need not be held overseas Domestic MICE market will be

that where the request originated from the company, based in the region (limited by the scope

of water) takes place MICE and implementation from the form and nature of the event, as

well as payment of the whole event is the company, which is based in the country

Participants in this event are mostly local people This category also saving costs for both

organizations to help develop domestic tourism

MICE international MICE market comes as international companies based in foreign

countries, all the requirements and decide on the form of service, quality and price, payments

are made by the public foreign company and make decisions Majority of the audience are

foreigners However, based on the above criteria to divide this market currently no longer

accurate In fact, it is sometimes difficult to distinguish between these two markets where the

trend of globalization, multinational corporations have branches in many countries around the

world Maybe MICE contract is a foreign company, but the object is directly serving

customers in water For example: the LG Group of South Korea if the workshop in Korea

where the participants are subsidiaries of LG Electronics will have the group Korea, Vietnam,

China the more it creates for this type of rich colors

2.4.2.2 Objects MICE tourists:

 On the number:

MICE tourists usually agencies, corporations, associations or organizations The

conference and exhibition are often gathered large numbers in a certain area, maybe from

around the world, such as date of 18/9, Travel Expo 2009 world tour opened in the capital

Japan's Tokyo with the participation of the travel agency, tour operators, hotels and airlines

from some 150 countries and territories around the world, has attracted countless tourists

choose this place is the gathering place for So, should you sign a contract as well as MICE

then signed hundreds of other single contract

Moreover, the tourists in the same union with a common purpose, and common use of

the same kind of similar services, which helps service providers will bring more uniformity,

expertise turned higher, and the service itself will also have the opportunity to grow bigger

than the size

 In using the service:

Especially MICE spending is much higher than the normal hotel tour, organized by

the Conference Board of always booking for hotels in the 4-5 star hotels, high service

Compared with single travelers, group travelers, the hotel's MICE tourism is considered

high-end customers, mostly traders, politicians, VIPs so they are very demanding and fussy 100

to 100 guests can shuttle They can take the foot shuttle flight, the procedures in hotel rooms

while I was in the meeting room The organizers need to understand the preferences of each

customer to arrange the daily diet, so do not be arranged between two adjacent seats guests

who do not agree with one another workshop This was not the desire of the

improvisational nature this guests: outdoor cocktail party, dinner parties unannounced

immediately after the conclusion of the meeting

 Aims requirements:

MICE visitors are mostly character performance, position in the organization They

can be the director, general manager, the clientele, the key partners, officers, employees have

the best performance so they are the interested organizations in a cycle originality MICE

requirements are varied but not out 2 main purposes: to achieve the economic benefits of the

organization and enjoy personal interests

Requirements of economic benefits is required after the trip, the organization must

achieve economic purpose of the trip Such as Hennessy Festival 2009 held in Shanghai

brings together renowned artists from around the world, attracting thousands of other guests

in the world of business, the arts not for purposes other than promotion of the floating

image turn, brand, Hennessy Group class

From the above common features, review individual tourism conference, we can list

the elements to ensure the success of tourism conferences as follows:

- Ease of access: the location (city) organizes conferences and seminars to be close to

the international airport, many flights to other countries in the world

- Professionalism: meetings, conferences and seminars must be guaranteed in terms of

professionalism held at the time of registration, check-in time, material, opening ceremony,

introduction, light , sounds, cuisine, closing ceremony

- Equipment: Where should the conference be brightly decorated, comfortable and

fully equipped with projector, microphone, interpreting, video cameras, background music,

the secretary

- Hotel: The hotel was chosen as close as possible meeting locations In addition,

guests subjects attended by entrepreneurs, high-level visitors so the 3 to 5 star hotels,

rooms quality is always the first choice

- Level of confidence: it is important for the organizers of the conference venue

selection Therefore, the favorable policies to promote, improve the environment for

international travel from macro management of the new government can guarantee this

- Diversity: Conference host countries have beautiful landscapes, diverse culture and

unique, many amusement parks, commercial centers

2.5 OVERVIEW OF HO CHI MINH CITY

As a center of economic and cultural-scientific and technological hub with the

transportation system as an important international airport of Tan Son Nhat, Saigon Port ,

industrial parks located in the city perimeter, natural resource diversity, abundance and

spread out over many different terrains, many tourist attractions; the Ho Chi Minh City is

quite sensitive, open-minded, enthusiastic, fast adaptation to integration; Ho Chi Minh City

has great potential in the approach, exploiting and developing MICE tourism (focus on

tourism conference) - a tendency to travel the world

As a young city with 300 years of history, but Ho Chi Minh City has built many buildings

and owns a diverse culture The tourist attraction of the city is relatively diverse With 11

museums system, mainly on historical themes, Ho Chi Minh City Vietnam ranked first in the

number of museums Museum of the largest and oldest city is Vietnam History Museum with

30 thousand objects While most visitors to the War Remnants Museum is a foreigner, the

museum attracts many domestic tourists especially Ho Chi Minh Museum Ho Chi Minh City

is a metropolis on religious diversity

Currently in Ho Chi Minh City has 765 hotels with 23,541 rooms from 1 to 5 stars

The luxury 3-5 star hotels are mainly concentrated in District 1 Due to the development of

tourism, luxury rooms in the city is severely lacking Although many investors intending to

build luxury hotels in Ho Chi Minh City, but they have difficulty in finding locations It is

expected that by 2020, 10 cities will have more room 4 or 5 thousand stars

Ho Chi Minh City is also a center for shopping and entertainment Besides music tea rooms,

bars, discos, theater, the city has many amusement parks such as Dam Sen Park, Suoi Tien,

Zoo The shopping area, such as Ben Thanh Market, Diamond Plaza system restaurants,

cafes as well as a tourism strengths of the city

2.6 STATUS OF MICE TOURISM IN HO CHI MINH:

2.6.1 Status of business networks serving tourists conference in Ho Chi Minh City today:

Advantages:

Currently, compared with cities of other countries in the region such as Bangkok,

Singapore, Kuala Lumpur the Ho Chi Minh City is quite new destination for international

visitors make up the attraction for visitors wishing to explore the domain new land

In terms of countries, the Ho Chi Minh City is the number one choice for serving conditional

basis tourists relatively complete

Assessing the potential for MICE, WTO expert team has said that there is huge

potential VN and outside of Hanoi, Ho Chi Minh City is where most tourists arrive first

(because the City international gateway to the country's largest), if the city has the ability to

link with sites of the region (the provinces of the Mekong Delta) and the provinces in the

country, the city took control completely in the development of tourism programs,

conferences, as well as to estimate the number of guests

• Culinary Tourism services:

Ho Chi Minh City, where good land birds, the land of all ethnic groups in all regions

of the country, so that luck crystallization characteristics of the 3 North, Central, South, turn

List the city and cultural center of the country's cuisine Currently, the 3-5 star hotels have

on-site catering with high-level menu, varied and plentiful at the request of the customer, and

satisfies part needs to learn the culinary culture of guests Standardized system restaurants,

luxury development is very strong You can list some typical address is generally chosen to

entertain tourists as senior Ngoc Suong seafood restaurant, Indochina, Vietnam Phan,

Delicious and some quality restaurants serving specialties pure Vietnam like pancakes

Eating is addicted, Pho 24 In addition, visitors also have the opportunity to entertain in the

culinary program characterized by the Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism, Ho Chi

Minh City in conjunction with a number of units held annually such as gastronomic

delicacies Festival of water, Southern Fruit Festival

• Services in amusement, recreation, visit:

In recent years, the city has gradually established a system amusement parks superior

luxury and high-income earners such as golf courses, high-end business center, high-quality

cinema partially meet the needs of the MICE

• procurement of goods and services, souvenirs:

Subjects MICE tourists luxury, spending levels are much higher than the general

public, expenditures for their shopping is not small So, if you know how to market this

object will bring enormous source of foreign currency for the city

Ho Chi Minh City has a system of shopping centers, supermarkets Ben Thanh Market

icon on the exchange of trade from the ancient city, remains today an important role The

recent decades, many modern commercial center appears as Parkson, Diamond Plaza

Consumption of Ho Chi Minh City is much higher than other provinces of Vietnam and 1.5

times higher Hanoi

• The development of tourist accommodation establishments:

The development of tourist accommodation establishments to 2010:

Since the City Event Tourism Year Ho Chi Minh in 1990, along with the rise of

tourism, domestic tourists and international cities and more, mechanical systems tourist

accommodation establishments (abbreviated as CSLTDL) of the city was growing rapidly in

both quantity and quality, to contribute actively to meet the diverse needs of tourists not only

to stay, but also about dining-hall, as well as health services, recreation, entertainment,

Especially the development of high-end hotel system has met the requirements of

international visitors has high solvency, MICE tourists (tourism traders, conferences,

seminars, fairs, promotion bonus) also contributed to better serve the political events, culture,

sports big city such as the Ministerial Conference Commerce Secretary APEC 2006 SEA

GAMES 2003 This is also an opportunity, the best conditions to promote the city attracts

tourists traders, MICE tourism development and continues to host major international events

over again in Vietnam in general and Ho Chi Minh City in particular

1995 only 426 tourism accommodation facilities in city with 11 820 rooms are to

11/2009, the whole city has 1,671 tourist accommodation establishments with a total of 34

931 rooms, up 326 basis with 3962 rooms over the same period in 2008 end 08/2010 month,

has 1,446 tourist accommodation establishments with 33 702 rooms have been categorized,

ranked according to Decree 92 / CP, including:

- Hotel 765 - 23,541 rooms are ranked from 1 to 5 stars, including 65 hotels - room

8980 block of 3-5 stars

- 679 tourist accommodation establishments - room 9771 recognized standards of

tourist accommodation business

TABLE 1.- TOURISM ACCOMODATION FACILITIES

IN HO CHI MINH CITY 2013

Accommodation NO HOTELS NO.ROOMS

(Source: Hotel management Division- Department of Cultures, Sports and Tourism HCMC)

In terms of quality, CSLTDL system of the city has witnessed rapid development

Along with Hanoi, Ho Chi Minh City hotel system into several categories and the best in the

country, the ability to compete with other cities in the region are constantly improving

International competition and domestic competition is a positive factor promoting CSLTDL

constantly diversifying and improving the quality of hotel services through investment,

upgrading technical infrastructure, innovative equipment equipment as well as fostering

professional qualifications, language of the management team and staff In recent years, most

high-end hotels, particularly hotels 4-5 stars are more interested in the services for MICE

tourism, contributing to the formation and development of niche tourism this luxury Ho Chi

Minh City as well as for the country

Difficulties:

• Tourism in Ho Chi Minh City on the night:

According to travel agents, with 80% of foreign tourists to Ho Chi Minh City wants to

visit " Saigon by night" (Saigon at night) but most do not know where to go And people want

to Saigon evening entertainment, fun and just hanging around karaoke, pubs, coffee "box"

stifling While most tourists prefer the cultural performances in depth and is characterized

Vietnam We did not have the performance center features such as martial arts, art, drama

centers have formal presentations, system, taking, or in-depth overview of the history and

culture of Vietnam

• Services in amusement, recreation, visit:

Is a dynamic city and the country's development, Ho Chi Minh City led the country in

both the number and quality of the play area, entertainment tours, but also monotonous and

highly copied from the type available form, not according to a master plan, and we could very

easily be boring for the audience to ask high and MICE Currently, amusement parks,

sightseeing can be divided into 2 groups: group 1 associated with the exploitation of natural

conditions, and 2 associated with the exploitation of man-made facilities Weak point of this

type of service is often slow investment, patchwork, lack of planning, it is difficult to retain

customers Specifically, two major theme parks currently Dam Sen and Suoi Tien, but there

is a huge investment for building and lack of professionalism in sewing class held serve to

sometimes focus on Construction of the new items that are less focused cultivate those old

items that the overall park becomes cluttered, aesthetic

• Procurement of goods and services, souvenirs:

Almost everywhere in the city, tourists can find yourself a favorite item But the

important thing here is to create the impression of goods for tourists Requirements of MICE

tourists usually very high and subtle, but present, souvenir products in Ho Chi Minh City has

something special rare sexism Saigon Ho Chi Minh City, the majority only new focal

collection of souvenir shops, traditional handicrafts from different regions only

• The development of tourist accommodation establishments:

Besides the positive side, the system of city CSLTDL also limited, as indicated in the

following major aspects:

 First, the financial crisis - banking on a global scale since late 2008 and Influenza A / H1N1 since mid-2009 has been affect business travel - Vietnam hotel general and HCM

City in particular, make use of block occupancy 3-5 star hotels was estimated to reach 58%

(down 10.3% compared to 2008)

 Second, the hotel 3-5 star accounts for the low rate of only 65 hotels with 8,980 rooms accounted for 23.8% of the total number of rooms The rest are mostly small hotels,

small rooms, little service, design, decorative yet professional, the rate of trained laborers

hotel operations and low use of foreign languages, so that service quality not high, does not

meet the requirements of international delegations, tourists traders, there is the group

solvency but require high quality and professional service style high

Status of international visitors to Ho Chi Minh City:

Ho Chi Minh City attracted the largest number of tourists Vietnam By 2009, although

affected by the economic crisis in 2008 caused tourists to the city has decreased, but their

own international visitors to Ho Chi Minh City still accounts for 66.40% of the whole

country In the meantime, for business purposes (business travelers) increased by 92.9%

compared with 2000

According to figures from the General Statistics Office, in the first four months of

2010 the country has welcomed nearly 1.8 million international passengers, including

business travelers increased to 60.4% compared to the same period last year Department of

Culture, Sports and Tourism estimates, in quarter 1/2010, international visitors to the city by

air will reach about 637 900 increased by approximately 12% compared to the same period

last year

Table 2- GROWTH OF INTERNATION ARRIVALS, BUSINESSMEN TO HO CHI MINH

CITY FROM 2000 - 2009

Năm

Thành phố Hồ Chí Minh (1) Việt Nam (2) TP.HCM so

với Việt Nam (%)

Lượng khách

quốc tế đến TP.HCM

Trong đó khách thương nhân

Mức tăng của khách thương nhân (%)

Lượng khách quốc tế đến Việt Nam

Trong đó khách thương nhân

Table 3 CHART OF INTERNATIONAL ARRIVALS TO HO CHI MINH CITY FROM 2000 - 2009

Table 4 CHART OF BUSINESSMEN IN HCMC COMPARE WITH VIETNAM (%)

(2)Source:Vietnam National Administration of Tourism)

2.6.3 Facilities for conferences:

The organization which is capable of meeting the first and most significant tourism

City is the 3-5 star quality hotel with the feature space dedicated to the conference -

Conference - event

If you own only compare the size and quality of the facilities of 4-5 star hotels, it can be affirmed in Ho

Chi Minh City still tops the country (See Statistical Appendix standard hotel conference tourism in

Vietnam) In addition, the city also has a number of facilities such as Fair and Exhibition Saigon (SECC),

White Palace A total of approximately 200 large meeting room, serves small conferences meetings at

home and abroad with a total area of 28,000 m2 Currently, the international conference is usually held in

0 500000 1000000 1500000 2000000 2500000 3000000

2000 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009

Businessmen

Other purpose tourists

0 100000 200000 300000 400000 500000 600000 700000 800000 900000

2000 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009

TP.HCM VIỆT NAM

4-5 star hotels One of the most prestigious addresses in the conference held in Ho Chi Minh City:

TABLE 5 – MICE FACILITIES IN HCMC 2010

TOTAL CHAIRS SQUARE

METER (M2)

TOTAL CHAIRS

TOTAL CHAIRS CLASS

ROOM

THEATRE

CLASS ROOM

NHÀ HÁT

I 3* - 5* system:

Windsor Plaza 22 2,754.20 435 1,647

Jade Ballroom 1+2+3

1500

500 1,200 3,600++

The Grand Ballroom 760

600 1,200 13,500

SaiGon Ballroom

940

470 1,000

Indochine Hall 279

Caravelle Ballroom 300

Ballroom I,II,III 135

Diamond Hall 400

350 200

Belle vue 12th floor

120 150 300

Conference Hall 150

130 220 350

Riverside 2 400 240 440

Sky view 04,Riverside view 05 200

300 400 1000

Total (I+ II) 199 28625.2 12477 21721 6800 11840

(1)Source: Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism HCMC

2.6.2 Sources of tourism personnel City:

2.6.2.1 Actual labor:

A survey of Tourism, in 2008 the total number of direct labor and indirect tourism

over 1 million people The average growth rate was 28.7% / year When compared with the

total number of employees working at the time of 1/7/2008, workers in the tourism sector

(including direct and indirect) accounted for approximately 10% of the service area and 4%

of the total employees are working in the country

Many experts: Labor in the tourism sector have relatively high incomes and create

social labor productivity is relatively large (labor productivity is calculated as the sum of

domestic products / value added price 1 real per employee is working) Just total social labor

productivity of the hospitality industry and restaurant industry ranked 6/18 of the national

economy and increased by 2.36 times compared to the average labor productivity of society

This confirms the development of tourism has contributed significantly to solving economic

problems - society of the country, creating more jobs for social and labor productivity of high

From 46 – 60 404 30.0%

Over 60 170 12.6%

(Source: Compiled from the survey of MICE tourism)

 The tourist accommodation facilities ranked high (3-5 stars) should be properly invested facilities, equipment and modern facilities, extensive service In particular, the 4-5

star hotels often by foreign managers should manage highly professional, focused training of

specialized human resources and professional skills, language and communication continued

to achieve international standards

 Number of tourist accommodation establishments with less than 50 rooms-scale business is the standard hotel 1-2 star rating with technical facilities did not meet the diverse

needs of guests traveling, the system only provides the basic services The facility focuses on

the market of domestic tourists with low liquidity and easygoing Our staff and management

of business establishments are largely not been trained, professional; equipment, service

skills and communication skills are weak language Management capacity of director type

small hotels, tourist lodges also lower, mostly untrained, mostly household management style

business - family

2.6.2.2 Difficulties:

Currently, there are 88 universities, colleges and tourism training level, but can only

meet 50% of demand Private Ho Chi Minh City have over 50% of workers in the industry

are untrained

We must recognize frankly, tourism workforce is limited in terms of both expertise

and qualifications and foreign language State Personnel management and business

management was not much formal training, yet equipped with profound knowledge of the

international economic institutions, lack of integration experience dealing cases involved

disputes between parties Most direct labor are not formally trained, the training focused but

did not meet the actual requirements

CHAPTER 3: RESEARCH MODEL (Figure into the relationship between the factors affecting the growth of MICE tourism – the SATISFATION OF CUSTOMERS)

As we know, customers are very important of the services field MICE tourism is depend on

the satisfactions of customers and the willing of coming back in the future In this section, I

based on the information travel companies and hotels have in several years Those partners

will know the characteristic of MICE tourists and how to develop the growth or attract

customers to come to spend money in MICE tourism We also ask the customers of hotels

When asked, there is no obligation to answer questions, each with its own opinion of them

free We did not ask their real names, just parts of them require only to the investigators for

more comfortable and confident to answer questions

All customers have no obligation to answer the questions, all of which are made freely to

make their own opinions The customer who do not need to write clearly your full name, just

specify the parts required and this makes it much more comfortable and confident for the

customers when they answered the questions

Thus, based on the above analysis, the satisfaction of the customers affected and the impact

of factors related to the growth of revenue of MICE tourism Here I would like to present the

theoretical model of satisfaction of customers based on the basis of relevant theories will be

the following:

• Hypothesis T1: The perception about the reputation of hotels This is a very important factor, this implies the tourists respect, the customers will be creating the

good image of the hotel, they love to stay at the famous and good hotel The result will

be associated to the loyalty of customers to the hotel

• Hypothesis T2: The perception of the hotel to have enough space for a MICE event and capacities to host a group of MICE customers When capacities of hotel meet the

needs for satisfaction of customers

• Hypothesis T3: the customers’ perception about the hospitality services One important factor is when the company can better organize the event in a hotel or a

convention center, they would love to have the hotel services at the place they are

staying If the accommodation facilities meet this request, the customers would be

very happy to stay and organize the event with satisfaction

• Hypothesis T4: The sense of human resources are very important With the 5 stars standard, the customers demand the high quality of services such as front desk, house keeper, waitresses, waiters, guard, and higher level is DOSM, DOFB… the person could met their high demand The elements of human resource at MICE facilities to

bring the most effective impact on customers satisfaction

Figure 1: A Theoretical Model of customers’ satisfaction

presented a summary of the theory related to the satisfaction of customers and has built a

theoretical model shows the impact of these factors to the satisfaction of customers in the

MICE services supplying process Specifically, these factors are: the accommodation

facilities reputation, the hotel capacities, the Food and Beverage services, the human

resource The factors set out that if customers feel as good about the evaluation factors above,

the higher their satisfaction and decide to come back

CHAPTER 4: RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

4.1 Research Strategy:

This research is a case study, an applied research That means the results of this study is only

applicable for hotel instead of so many MICE facilities such as exhibition, convention center, the hotels, the conference house … There are no generalizations to others To collect the data

I choose diversity source of data included the secondary data and the primary data by

questionnaire survey because this help to collect data gives me a lot of information in a short

time

Qualitative research methods and quantitative research methods are used to carry out the study Qualitative research methodology was conducted to find factors that affect employees’ loyalty Since then build measurement scale

I’m using qualitative and quantitative data because I want to evaluate the factors affecting the customers’ satisfaction to support qualitative research

The reason for choosing qualitative methods is due to the characteristics of tourism industry

has huge number of customers and large everywhere, so based on quantitative research will

be difficult if large scale large samples can not do well, too expensive and take too much of

time, whereas if small-scale and small samples, the results are unreliable

On the other hand, knowledge and information of most customers is not enough to evaluate

the complex issues of business and competitiveness of tourism industry

I’m expecting to get a better view of satisfaction of tourists in MICE tourism

Data collection:

The data collected in this method include secondary data and primary data Secondary data

was collected from previous studies and specialized reports to form the theoretical framework

for research Based on this theoretical framework, the primary data collected from focus

group discussions and expert’s opinions to build basic scale of the research problem

The data collected is primary data collected through questionnaire survey The opinions of

the customers is measured by the Likert scale from 1 point (expressed the idea that they

totally dissatisfied) to 5 points (expressed the complete loyalty)

Population: 300 customers

Expected sample size is 250 people Sampling methods used are: setting up a questionnaire to

customers (customers divided by: occupation, education level, gender, age, income ) The

scale will be tested from data collected through Cronbach Alpha coefficient Data will be

analyzed and processed through software SPSS 16.0 via methods of data analysis such as

statistics, describing the variables, testing the average difference, factor analysis

Limitations of this research:

 The quality of the investigation in question depends on knowledge and experience of my tight

 Due to the constraints of time and year-end, quality research from data collected will be affected negatively

 Case study was conducted in Ho Chi Minh City, so it only has the limited value in the MICE tourism industry of Ho Chi Minh City

In previous chapters, as introduced research was conducted over a two-step study: secondary

research using quantitative methodology was conducted in the form of direct interviews with

questionnaires detailed questionnaires and scales to assess the factors that affect employee

loyalty Formal research using qualitative methodology was conducted through interviews

that likely unstructured and structured interviews to determine the cultural categories through understanding "factors influence "in the minds of satisfaction of customers”, find out what they think and they feel how happy about the services that they spend and how satisfied they

are

More specifically the study of design and research processes will be discussed in detail

below

The Secondary Research (Quantitative)

The purpose of this step is a qualitative research aimed to explore the satisfaction and

customers satisfaction through exploring the factors that affect to the satisfaction of

customers when staying at the hotel to have the meeting business Study subjects are the

hotels

The information gathering methods used in the form of interview directly with detailed

questionnaires and scales based on a discussion outline prepared (see Appendix 1)

Based on questionnaire results and the scale of individual discussions, that has feedback on

these reviews and opinions of the factors, which affecting satisfaction of customers The

following table is based on statistical data the average percentage of total responses that

individuals have feedback on the proposals discussed

Important to me (point)

Your expectation from company (point)

Famous and huge hotel 4,6 4,72

Table 7: The hotel’s survey result

Based on, the statistical result of the table shows, the individual making the comments about

the factors affecting their loyalty through formal assessment by scoring scale The scoring

way is expressed through one point (01) is the lowest level, three points (03) is average and

five points (05) is the highest rating for that individual factors wish to comment With the

above data show that individual appreciation of those factors and they expect the company

will improve the factors that can help them to develop and build their loyalty to the company

in generally speaking

In next chapter, there will explain more about perception and evaluation of the individual

customer, which will be classified by age groups and clear a concrete analysis of the factors,

that can alter the satisfaction of customer

Main Research (Qualitative Research)

The purpose of this research step is testing the theoretical model to set out, measuring factors

that affecting employee loyalty while working at his company on the nature of the company

for employees and vice versa This study was conducted in Ho Chi Minh City, particularly in

general 5 stars hotels in the city Respondents were customers aged 21 to 55 The Methods

used to collect information in this study serves as a structured interview according to a

detailed questionnaire was prepared (see Appendix 2) Sample size is 300 customers of the 5

stars hotels in HCMC Model studies are summarized in tables are presented in Table 2

below:

Accommodation Step

(1)

Interview days(2)

5 stars hotels 1.8

Tuesday and Saturday Every week

Total of customers

Total of customers interview

Table 8: The research study sample

Which are: (1) the ratio of customers was interviewed based on the total number of existing

Customers at that time

(2) to interview the appropriate date is a Tuesday and Saturday every week

because these days often have free time than other days

4.2 Scale Construction:

The scale is a tool used for conventional (encoding) the unit of analysis in the expression of

the variable Today, with the use of encryption and the computer is usually performed

numerically There are 4 different scales that are used in market research, that is (1) scale

identification (nominal scale), (2) order scales (ordinal scale), (3) distance scale (interval

scale), and (4) ratio scale

Within this research topic, the scale is built on the basis of theory of scale and build on the

loyalty of employees, and refer to the scale was developed as SERQUAL1 in the world, the

study of behavior patterns affect employee loyalty to company2 They are adjusted and

supplemented to suit the purposes of research

As presented in previous chapter, there are four concepts should be studied are:

- The perception about the accommodation facilities reputation

- The perception of the hotels facilities

- The perception the hospitality services

- The sense of the human resource

But the main purpose of this study was mainly focused on measuring the factors affecting the

satisfaction of customers that spending the MICE services at 5 stars hotels This means

exploring the satisfaction of the customers, which is measured directly through the customer's

comments on four concepts listed above Specific measurement scales are presented below:

4.2.1 The scale of the perception about the hotels reputation:

The perception about the hotels reputatio is denoted as "A" Usually the sense of

measurement scales often in general3 However, according to the qualitative research results

suggest that factors perceived by customers around the problem

Hence the scale of the perception about the hotels including 5 variables observed

characteristics indicate concern for the customers I use to A1 to A5 notation for the

observations on 5 variables The observed variables are measured by Likert scale

Table 9: The scale of the perception about the hotels reputation

A2 Famous and huge hotel

4.2.2 The scale of the hotels facilities:

Perceived the hotels facilities are denoted by “B” Through qualitative research results show that, when referring to the appropriateness of the hotel facilities that will be effects to create

an attraction for certain customers

From the results gathered during the research process, the scale of the hotel facilities influent

comments on the satisfaction of customers that will be effects observed included five

variables, from L1 to L5 notation (for see Table 4) The observed variables are also measured