From sales assistant to monopolist? The underestimated power of MICE portals
Evy, Tigran and Bernd discuss the results of the latest IHA survey on MICE portal providers
Personal interpretation by Bernd Fritzges of the IHA evaluation "Importance and distribution of MICE portal providers in Germany"
The numbers speak for themselves: Digital booking platforms are playing an increasingly visible role in the MICE segment. More than 60 percent of the hotels surveyed in the current IHA survey (June issue of IHA "M@ilnews" 2025) already use Meetago, followed by MICE Portal, Cvent, Tagungshotel.net, and Event-Inc. However, as significant as this use is, its significance for the strategic development of the hotel industry is ambivalent.
Digital sales in the MICE segment: status quo
According to the latest IHA survey, more than half of hotels generate less than ten percent of their event revenue through digital MICE portals. Only just under a fifth generate more than 25 percent through this channel. In other words: Despite their ubiquitous presence, platforms still play a subordinate role in the overall mix of many hotels.
This figure is consistent with internal analyses by MICE DESK. On average, around 75 percent of all inquiries are received informally and directly by hotels. The remaining 25 percent, however, includes not only traditional portals but also inquiries processed through central sales offices of large hotel chains.
A similar picture emerges in the blog post " MICE Portals: Revolutionized. Maximized. What now? " from March 18, 2024 (source: www.mice-guy.com ). It also makes clear that the narrative of the platform revolution in the MICE business often has more media impact than operational reality. The question of whether portals truly make everyday sales more efficient and customer-centric remains unanswered. Rather, the impression is created that traditional direct inquiries continue to play the dominant role, despite technological advances.
Roland Elter, Managing Director of Maritim Hotels, puts it in a nutshell in his assessment:
"For us, portals are relevant, firstly, for international business. In addition to the actual inquiry process, they also function as a community for meeting planners and can enable reach and communication with customers. Secondly, we have a relationship in Germany because our corporate clients use MICE portals as service providers. Business with our existing customers accounts for the largest share. A trend predicted years ago, regarding increasing purchases via portals, is not occurring, and it remains very costly. Suppliers and buyers can now find each other online even without a portal."
However, this doesn't mean that the impact of MICE portals is negligible. Quite the opposite: In certain segments, particularly chain hotels and in urban areas, the share is significantly higher. Here, the platforms already function as structuring gatekeepers for relevant inquiries and thus as a powerful factor in the distribution system.
Platform usage between efficiency and dependence
Platforms promise standardization, speed, and reach. For hotels with limited resources, this sounds like a logical step. However, a closer look at the numbers reveals a tension: The proportion of digital bookings remains relatively low, while the effort required to integrate platform processes is high. This by no means reduces the workload for convention sales managers. Quite the opposite: Maintaining portal profiles, entering RFPs, and the associated process disruptions create additional manual effort. Instead of efficiency, this often results in additional workload that slows down existing systems and processes without providing any real benefits for day-to-day work.
More than 80 percent of hotels still process requests manually. Automated tools are rare, and their interoperability is often limited. And in many cases, the platforms themselves determine which tools they are "technologically compatible" with. This circumstance limits open competition without being immediately apparent. MICE DESK has specifically developed solutions to address precisely these challenges: supporting hotels in process automation independent of platform specifications while simultaneously increasing efficiency in convention sales.
Where does market dominance begin?
The combination of extensive reach and technological dependence raises questions relevant to antitrust law. Platforms that achieve a market share of over 40 percent and simultaneously influence tool usage are close to the threshold of a dominant market position.
Particularly problematic: If platforms push their own systems onto the market, either directly or through affiliated companies, this could result in a system in which freedom of choice is replaced by technical specifications. This not only reduces competitive diversity but also the power of innovation.
What does this mean for decision-makers in the hotel industry?
The challenge for hotel managers lies in finding the right way to use platforms: using them without subjugating themselves to them. Platforms aren't inherently good or bad. Their role depends on how much they open up or close off the market.
Confident handling means:
Strengthen digital processes in-house without becoming blindly dependent on external system logic.
Question interfaces and do not accept every tool suggestion without question.
Making number-based decisions : How many bookings actually come through platforms? Is the effort worth it?
Elter also sees the influence of the platforms in a differentiated way:
"In the business with contract customers in Germany, MICE portals are the standard. Unfortunately, there are dependencies. However, our focus is on our customers, not the portal. The majority of business via portals comes from these customers; less business from the open market reaches us, and when it does, the result is very low. Therefore, we don't focus on them. We have analyzed this continuously and in detail for several years. Fortunately, there are alternatives."
An outlook with question marks
The digital provision of MICE services will increase, there's no question. But whether this will result in a balanced market with real alternatives remains to be seen. The decisive factor will be whether platform providers are willing to practice openness and fairness, or whether they continue down the current path of integration and exclusivity.
The more hotels organize their processes around the platform logic, the less flexibility they have. And the greater the risk of becoming dependent in the long term on a system that doesn't necessarily operate in the best interests of the hotel industry.
Conclusion: Digital sovereignty is the key
Platforms can support sales in the MICE sector, accelerate processes, and increase reach. But they must not become the dominant bottleneck. Hotel managers are well advised to consider the platform issue not only operationally but also strategically.
Because in the end, it's not just about bookings, but about independence, freedom of design and the question: Who actually owns access to tomorrow's guest?