Sustainability in the Meetings Industry

The meetings industry, also known as MICE and as business travel and tourism, is comprised of association conventions and congresses, corporate meetings, incentives and exhibitions. It is an important sector of the global tourism industry and often plays a leading role in tourism development in emerging destinations, including Serbia. The meetings industry is affected by several global megatrends such as globalisation, demographic change, technology, safety, sustainability, and recently by the corona virus pandemic. Although there is an increasing focus on sustainability more widely, there has been little academic research on this topic in the meetings industry compared to the existing body of research on sustainability in the tourism and hospitality industries. Therefore, this paper aims to raise awareness of the importance of this topic with both academics and industry practitioners, with the focus on developing countries, such as Serbia. Moreover, the paper presents some examples of best practices in sustainability in the meetings industry, to inspire all industry stakeholders to be responsible and innovative in these challenging times.