Hotels in major business event destinations must stay ahead of meetings, incentives, conferences, and events (MICE) food and beverage trends to better serve guests and travelers visiting their properties. For those that host MICE groups from around the world, it’s always important to take into consideration the diverse cuisines and cultural expectations.
Whether travelers are visiting from Asia, Australia, Europe, the Middle East, or elsewhere, hotels should know how to prepare international cuisines in order to serve these markets and exceed the expectations of multinational guests. International guests often appreciate when hotels offer cuisine that is familiar. However, many guests also enjoy traveling to a new place and trying the local cuisine. The hotel may be asked to offer local dishes alongside international favorites to meet these needs.
For events with attendees from several different countries, hotels can offer guests multiple menus that are tailored to meet individual requests, allowing them to customize their options. Hotels may receive requests for Halal, Kosher, Vegan, and Gluten-Free menus as well, and some may also be asked to serve sustainable and organic food—a popular trend among North American travelers. Kitchens should be able to adapt and cater to these requirements, as they are becoming more common.
In addition to equipping food and beverage teams to meet guests’ diverse requests, hotels must also ensure that sales and operations teams learn the specific requirements of different international cuisines so that they also understand client needs and are able to surpass the expectations of their guests.
About the Author
Gene Capuano is the senior vice president of conventions and Venetian operations at The Venetian Macao, The Parisian Macao, and The Conrad Macao. Gene has help this position since 2010, and previously served as executive director of conference management. Prior to working for Sands Resorts Macao, Gene was the senior conference manager at The Venetian Palazzo Las Vegas.
Photo: Chinese herbal chicken with Chinese wine in a clay pot (Courtesy of Sands Resorts Macao)
