Acceso usuarios
Chao Zhou, Guiqiang Qiao, Chris Ryan
Due to a limited brand presence and other issues, many Chinese second and third tier cities find it hard to compete with larger cities to attract, host, and promote mega-events. The purpose of this study is to understand the gap between the large and medium-sized cities and find how the smaller cities may develop their own product potential in the MICE market. The article reports results from a qualitative research study based on interviews with 40 business attendees from three medium-sized cities of Zhejiang Province, China. The results indicated a series of related dimensions, but a new pattern of "hosting capability" can be discerned whereby business attendees are aware of the product offered by the smaller-sized cities but perceive that their competitive advantage is weak, primarily due to a poor brand presence.
