Abstract
Business travel is an important form of tourism, and despite the increasing prevalence of remote work, people traveling for business purposes is growing. One such form of tourism is MICE (meetings, incentives, conventions/conferences and exhibitions). MICE tourism is big business, and many destinations throughout the world have targeted this lucrative form of tourism for economic development. However, most MICE attendees are multi-motivational and desire to have other experiences beyond the bounds of their business encounters. This paper examines the crossover between MICE tourism and heritage tourism, both working together to create a destination brand through stakeholder collaboration and brand equity. The study investigates the role of heritage institutions in creating a broader consumer base for people who travel for business purposes, which can lead to longer stays and greater expenditures in the destination. Using qualitative interviews with heritage stakeholders, the study explores how cultural heritage assets contribute to destination branding and complement the MICE sector. The findings indicate that heritage resources, including culinary traditions, music, festivals, and cultural institutions, enhance the attractiveness of destinations for business travelers and encourage engagement beyond MICE activities. The results further highlight the importance of stakeholder collaboration in creating distinctive destination experiences and strengthening destination brand equity. Such goals, however, can only be achieved through intersectoral collaboration. This study contributes to a better understanding of the synergistic relationship between heritage tourism and MICE tourism in destination branding and development.