Staging new conferences: positioning the MICE industry and entrepreneurs in the Stavanger region

Abstract

This thesis investigated the conference organizing process, people around it and factors influencing the success of similar events. During the recent years Stavanger conference industry has been developing rapidly. However, the MICE industry in Stavanger region is not well academically researched. In order to illustrate the conference industry in the region and to clarify relations between the business’ actors, researcher will use the qualitative research design. By using purposive sampling, the concentration was placed on twelve respondents from Stavanger CVB, PCOs companies, conference hotels and the entrepreneurs. The research data was gathered using face-to-face interviews and telephone interviews. The researcher engaged coding and thematic analysis. The findings showed that the entrepreneur’s role is very important for the conference process. Because of their international network they are the key elements for the conference realization. Moreover, the research explained in detail the conference industry actors’ relations and described the conference process from the first idea to its implementation. Additionally, the thesis described Stavanger region as a conference destination and have identified it’s strength and weaknesses