Factors That Influence The Positioning Of Meetings, Incentives, Conferences And Events (Mice) Destinations In Uasin Gishu County, Kenya

Abstract

Meetings, incentives, conferences and events (MICE) tourism has been alluded by many scholars as a sector that draws lucrative, direct and indirect revenue to host destinations. Despite this fact, little seems to have been done in Kenya especially at the county level to position the MICE product. The aim of the study was to establish the factors that influence the positioning of Uasin Gishu County (UGC) as a MICE destination. Specifically, the study sought to establish the influence of facilities, marketing and government policies on the positioning of UGC as a MICE destination. Mixed research approach including quantitative and qualitative methods was employed for the study.. Both descriptive and inferential statistics were used to analyze the information collected. The results of the multiple regression indicated that facilities greatly influenced positioning of the MICE product in UGC (+0.533) followed by marketing (+0.331) and finally the government policies (+0.201). In order to better position UGC as a MICE destination, it’s important that facilities, marketing and government policies are addressed.