Ethiopia Convention Bureau, an agency in charge of attracting business and conference tourists to Ethiopia, will hold a national launching event in January with the slogan "Meet in the Land of Origins". The Bureau along with its Meetings, Incentives, Conventions & Events (MICE) brand was set up less than half a year ago and aims to make Addis Abeba a MICE destination favourite of Africa by 2030.

Aided by consultants hired from the World Bank throughout its preliminary phase, the Bureau, which has designed a three-year strategic plan with a budget of 3.4 million dollars, crafted its national MICE Vision following a feasibility study and situation analysis in the country. The Bureau has completed staffing up, crafting an incentive and meeting planner guide and manual, and web design.

The Bureau, operating with eight staff members including the director, has prioritised six key targets under the strategic plan. Increasing the number of delegates that come for meetings and conventions, the amount of spending per delegate, and the duration of their stay make up the first three components. Incorporating events to take place during off-season periods to ensure year-round income generation and eventually encouraging them to be held in second-tier cities are also key goals of the initiative.  It also aims to spill over opportunities across the service value chain.

The Convention Bureau, anchored within Tourism Ethiopia, will not organise events or conferences on its own. Rather, it will mainly provide advisory services to organisers along with planning and giving on-site support for events. The sales section, its most vital element, is where it will source new business markets and engage in bids to be handed over to the private sector once secured.

There has been a tentative selection of venues for the launch, according to Alemayehu D. Tinsae, the director of the Bureau, which hopes to involve governmental bodies and a multitude of associations in the country in securing international events.

"We can also provide support to them," said Alemayehu.

Credibility, an issue faced by the private sector, hinders securing international bids and will be solved through the intermediation by the Convention Bureau, according to Alemayehu.

Convention bureaus are helpful for the private sector since they compete internationally as dedicated entities that will pursue bids, according to Yoadan Tilahun, founder & managing director at Flawless Events and president of the Ethiopian Events & Exhibition Organisers Association.