Impact of social changes on Tourism Management MICE: the age of the digitalization. A bibliometric study.

Abstract

MICE tourism, short for Meetings, Incentives, Conferences and Exhibitions, has developed intensively in recent decades. It has also been strongly affected by social changes, especially technological changes and the new social habits brought about by the Covid19 pandemic. the purpose of THIS RESEARCH is to find out state of the art in MICE Tourism and its digitalisation from 1997 to 2022, as well as the changes that Covid 19 has brought about in the management of MICE Tourism. For this purpose, the methodology followed consisted of carrying out a survey based on surveys of managers of Conference, Exhibition and Trade Fair Centres and Convention Bureaus in Spain, a leading country in MICE Tourism worldwide. According with the results obtained, a bibliometric analysis was carried out using the SCIMAT software to find out the thematic evolution of the terms MICE Tourism, digital and Business Tourism. This study identifies the topics most significant in managing MICE tourism during the pre-pandemic period from 1997 to 2019 and during the pandemic and post-pandemic period 2020-2022. On the other hand, the most cited concepts during the period 1997-2019 and their evolution towards other concepts in 2020-2022 are analysed. Considering the results obtained, future lines of research related to innovation, digitalisation, social networks and destination analysis are proposed for better and more competitive management of this tourism activity.