Discussion and Conclusion
This research has noted that the majority of the convention attendees tend to be neutral towards the integrated resorts concept. They on the other hand tend to be quite positive towards shopping facilities. There is consensus on the sentiment that shopping malls means more flow of people. These results seem to provide initial indication that the integrated resort owners need to put emphasis on shopping facilities within an integrated resort in order to attract more convention participants to attend conferences. Shopping seems to be the most attractive element to the majority of the convention attendees.
When dividing the participants into segments based on the nationality, Chinese attendees seem to have more positive perceptions towards integrated resort concept as compared to the non Asian attendees. This could indicate that integrated resorts such as those in Macau may be able to target the Chinese convention attendees more effectively since they are more likely to believe that integrated resort can help them to relax when compared to the
non Asians. Integrated resort may be a new and appealing concept for Chinese attendees. Integrated resort owners should design more aggressive marketing campaigns targeting convention planners from China. Shopping facilities should be highlighted in the marketing campaigns of integrated resorts in order to attract more conventions to be held in the integrated resort.
For the Asian attendees other than the Chinese, they seem to exhibit more interest in shopping when compared to non Asians. However, when comparing statements related to the integrated resort facilities, no significant differences are found between Asians and Non Asians. It seems that both Asian (excluding China) and non Asian attendees feel neutral towards the integrated resort concept. However, they seem to be more likely to
agree that shopping can provide leisure opportunities for people who accompany the attendees. Therefore, they also tend to have more favorable perceptions towards shopping. The Asian attendees seem to be more likely to have higher income when compared to the non Asian market. This may imply that these Asian attendees tend to be a good potential market if the integrated resort has good shopping facilities. For the non Asians, they seem to be less attracted by shopping opportunities for themselves and they do not believe that shopping can provide leisure opportunities for people who accompany convention attendees. This seems to imply that non Asian attendees less emphasis in shopping. Further studies should examine facilities, activities and programs that are more relevant to this segment of the convention attendees.
To conclude, there were relatively very few studies that have been conducted about the MICE attendees and among the few studies, the majority of the literatures were based on the empirical evidences in the Western countries. There is an urgent need of more literature and assessment based on empirical data from the Asia region given the tremendous competition from the region. This study therefore contributes to the MICE literature by
examining the convention attendees’ perceptions of integrated resort and their related supporting facilities such as shopping, bars, lounges and live shows. In addition, this study can provide resort owners an exploratory foundation for a better understanding of convention attendees. More comprehensive understanding of the convention attendees in different segments should be conducted in order to verify the results.
Like any other studies, this study also has limitation. The sample size of this study is relatively small. Future studies can expand the sample size. In addition, besides examining attendees’ perceptions of integrated resort, variables such as motivations of the attendees’ towards attending a convention in an integrated resort destination is also a worthwhile variable for researchers to examine. As the integrated resort concept become more
and more popular in the coming years, there will be needs to further examine the behavior of the convention attendees when attending conventions at an integrated resort.