adminA project proposal promoting the Victoria Falls as the best Meetings, Investment, Conference and Exhibitions (MICE) destination, has seen a Zimbabwean student being the run-away winner.
Chinhoyi University of Technology (CUT) final year Tourism and Hospitality student, Brian Mushakwe, 23, was named the overall winner out of 56 students at a recent two-day green conference.
The South African National Conventional Bureau invited universities to nominate their top five students to participate in the IMEX-MCI-MPI Future Leaders Forum held at Sandton early this year. The forum has been developed to encourage the best and brightest students to develop successful careers in the MICE industry.
The forum’s programmes are meant to engage and inspire future industry leaders. In May this year, winners from each continent were brought together for a competition. Mushakwe, from Budiriro in Harare, became the overall winner of the 2019/2020 university challenge.
The Incentive Travel, Meetings, Events Exhibition (IMEX) —Meeting Professionals International (MPI) — Management Centre Innsbruck (MCI) Future Leaders’ Forum University Challenge is jointly run by the IMEX Group, MPI, Meetings Africa and the MCI Group and has been developed to encourage the best and brightest students to develop successful careers in the Meetings, Incentives, Conferences and Exhibitions (MICE) industry.
MICE is a type of tourism in which large groups, usually planned well in advance, are brought together. Most MICE events are usually centred on a theme or topic and are aimed at a professional, school, academic or trade organisation or other special interest group, for example medical facilities and theme parks. More than 120 forums have taken place globally since 2003 with more than 6 500 students participating. The programme is especially designed to engage and inspire future industry leaders.
The South African National Conventional Bureau (SANCB) invited universities to nominate their top five students to participate in the IMEX-MCI-MPI Future Leaders’ Forum in Sandton, South Africa, at their 2020 meeting.
It was at this forum that CUT’s Mushakwe excelled against other students, who presented their projects based on the various locations on their continents.
“I pitched the idea of a two-day ‘Green Conference’ to promote the Victoria Falls as the best MICE destination in the world.
“I incorporated the event with the latest trends in technology such as virtual reality technology, Artificial Intelligence and Bluetooth beacons in non-traditional event venues.
“The presentation was running under the theme ‘Unlocking Mosi-oa-tunya’ because I realised that in Victoria Falls, there are a number of non-traditional event venues which are yet to be discovered and explored.”
Mushakwe considers “invaluable” the networking experience he was exposed to in South Africa as well as the cross-pollination of ideas and exchanges with other innovative young minds from the African continent.
‘I got an opportunity to make new contacts, learn and get answers to some of the burning questions I always had, from a selection of business professionals from around the world.
“Being named the overall winner of the 2019-2020 IMEX Future Leaders’ Forum is a tremendous honour. But I must admit, just being selected to represent Africa and being part of the process was a reward in itself.
“Winning is both an honour and a responsibility, meaning that others are now looking up to me and learning from my work and I hope I get the chance to implement my idea.
“The judges said that they were impressed by my written proposal and the accompanying video, which really made them want to explore our destination.
“I featured Victoria Falls and in winning the competition, it demonstrates that if we work together, Zimbabwe can indeed be one of the best destinations in the world.”
Mushakwe is expected to attend the IMEX Frankfurt, Germany, next year (2021), where he is expected to present his winning project and receive his award.
He is also expected to travel and attend either the 2021 edition of the World Education Conference, scheduled for Las Vegas, or the European Meetings and Event Conference, due to be held in Brighton, United Kingdom.
To celebrate Mushakwe’s achievement, Chinhoyi University of Technology hosted a reception in his honour.
The IMEX Frankfurt event is widely known to attract a large number of visitors and providing enormous opportunities for networking and communication to the exhibitors.
It is an excellent platform that has given birth to new and inspiring ideas and the networking programs are immensely fruitful to the attendees.
The IMEX is a worldwide exhibition for incentive travel, meetings, and business and features business services and solutions, travel solutions and services, event management services and more.
Meeting Professionals International (MPI) is the largest meeting and event industry association worldwide. Founded in 1972, MPI provides innovative and relevant education, networking opportunities and business exchanges, and acts as a prominent voice for the promotion and growth of the industry. MPI has a global community of 60,000 meeting and event professionals including more than 17 000 engaged members and its Plan Your Meetings audience. It has more than 70 chapters and clubs in 75 countries worldwide.
The Management Center Innsbruck links together the best out of science, economy and consulting to the unique concept of an international Entrepreneurial School. MCI offers graduate, non-graduate and post-graduate educational programs of the highest standard to senior and junior managers from all management levels and branches.
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