ABSTRACT

The fight against COVID-19 in Germany up to now has led to the highest financial debts for cities and state governments in the last 30 years. German cities (partly together with federal states) own infrastructures such as fair halls, fairgrounds or international airports; therefore, this is a relevant issue for meetings, conventions, incentives and exhibition (MICE) industries. MICE tourism will recover much slower than general tourism and those debts will even increase during the next years. So, this might lead to the need for change in MICE strategy and infrastructure in some or even many cities. This may also become (or even already is) a risk for Germany’s function and image as one of the top three countries for international MICE tourism, especially for international fairs and conferences – and due to that, this might also lead to international changes. The paper discusses whether German cities should reinvest, change/focus positioning or abandon the MICE market and its infrastructure to become more competitive as well with every city but also as an internationally recognized MICE-country.

摘要

迄今为止，德国与 COVID-19 的斗争导致城市和州政府在过去 30 年中承担了最高的金融债务。德国城市（部分与联邦州一起）拥有展览厅、展览场地或国际机场等基础设施；因此，这对于会议、会议、奖励和展览 (MICE) 行业来说是一个相关问题。MICE 旅游业的复苏速度将比一般旅游业慢得多，这些债务在未来几年甚至会增加。因此，这可能会导致一些甚至许多城市需要改变 MICE 战略和基础设施。这也可能（或什至已经）成为德国作为国际会展旅游的三大国家之一的功能和形象的风险，特别是在国际展览会和会议方面——因此，这也可能导致国际变化。本文讨论了德国城市是否应该再投资、改变/聚焦定位或放弃 MICE 市场及其基础设施，以提高与每个城市的竞争力，同时也成为国际公认的 MICE 国家。