In the ROX era, your location is key

Do you offer your delegates the ‘Return on Experience’ they expect?
Crowd mingling at a reception in an ornate arched courtyard with gothic columns and balconies.
© Tom Cornille
Attending a conference is no longer as evident as it was, say, five years ago. Due to rising travel costs, economic uncertainty, geopolitical tensions, the climate transition and sustainability principles, a legitimate question is being asked more often. That question is: is the return on investment from my participation in this conference high enough?

The key question: will your conference leave a lasting impression?

However, within the MICE industry, this Return on Investment is increasingly less often expressed in hard figures. There is a shift towards what is known as ‘Return on Experience’, or ROX for short.

Whereas ROI is expressed in monetary terms and is therefore rational, Return on Experience is primarily emotional. Conference delegates weigh up whether the event will leave a lasting memory or provide a meaningful experience. Certainly your visitors of tomorrow – read: millennials and Gen Z – attach great value to this sense of purpose and experience. In their high-tech world, human interaction, connection and storytelling are very important. 

Your location is becoming a decisive factor more than ever before

Interaction, connection and storytelling are inextricably linked to the place where you experience them. To deliver a compelling Return on Experience, the venue for your conference is becoming an even more decisive factor than before. Conference cities are evolving from mere ‘backdrops’ to ‘co-producers’ of the conference experience. The public space, the local story and the residents all contribute to what your delegates feel, remember and recount.

But if Return on Experience is the benchmark of the future, and this is largely determined by your conference city, then you must also consider the future of that city. What changes are on the horizon for your conference venue, and what opportunities does this evolution offer you to increase your ROX? Futurist Bert Van Thilborgh outlines three possible scenarios. 

A lasting memory guaranteed: a conference in the beautiful Madeleine Church

The future: 3 possible scenarios

In the first scenario – dubbed “Citiconnect” – the city becomes a connecting microcosm. It shifts from being a “place to visit” to a “place to belong”, with a network of local ecosystems organised in a circular and socially cohesive manner. 

This scenario encompasses, for example, the famous “15-minute logic”, which posits that all essential functions in a city should be accessible within one’s own neighbourhood. The local sharing and repair economy – such as sharing platforms and “libraries” of things – is also important, as are social interaction and community building. 

What does this mean for your conference? It will certainly become more participatory. Local impact and support from residents will become key performance indicators for measuring your ‘Return on Experience’. 

The second scenario is called ‘Experience Cities’. Cities no longer distinguish themselves purely through their monuments, but through their stories and the meaning they impart. The city becomes a brand that you “feel”. The overarching narrative underpins its identity and is woven into routes, museums and signage. And thus also into the “Return on Experience” of your conference. 

Your conference is no longer a stand-alone event, but becomes a “chapter moment” in the city’s story. This trend is already playing a role, as associations increasingly seek a destination with meaning and impact for their conferences. 

In the third future scenario, ‘Augmented Encounters’, the city gains an additional hybrid layer on top of the physical experience. Technologies such as AR/XR and digital twins offer visitors a personalised journey that connects stories, heritage, games, live performance and commerce. Real-time adaptation – such as crowd management, dynamic routes and smart recommendations – tailors the experience to individual preferences. 

In other words: conferences become hyper-personalised, with networking, content pathways and micro-sessions perfectly tailored to the individual. The “Return on Experience” of your conference also continues to have an impact for longer, as the digital layer remains in place beyond the conference dates, for example through community building, learning and follow-up. 

Man in a black shirt leaning against a brick wall outdoors, with a hedge-lined path behind him.

Who is Bert Van Thilborgh?

Bert Van Thilborgh is an internationally renowned futurologist and trend watcher. His expertise covers trend developments across numerous fields and themes, such as artificial intelligence and robotisation, people-centricity, consumer expectations, the generation gap and the impact on the economy and society. Bert is a much sought-after keynote speaker both at home and abroad, has published several books and lectures at colleges and universities in Belgium, the Netherlands, Spain and Brazil.

Depth and impact are more important than size

Although these scenarios differ from one another, there is a common thread running through them. MICE is becoming less mass-market; MICE is becoming more intense. This evolution is also evident from research. According to recent research by the Accor hotel chain, hoteliers and event professionals expect an increase in the number of small and medium-sized meetings. This means: conferences with short distances, more opportunities for interaction, less logistical friction, and more scope to really bring the city’s story to life.  

That is precisely the playing field of the so-called ‘experience cities’, such as Flanders’ conference cities. Here, your delegates are assured of meaningful experiences, underpinned by values such as sustainability, inclusion and authenticity. It is not the size of your conference city that matters, but the extent to which it offers depth and enables impact. 

Small cities, impactful experiences

Take, for example, a tourist hotspot like Bruges. The city welcomes no fewer than 27,000 visitors a day – or 8 million a year – yet still manages to position itself as a state-of-the-art conference destination offering a high ROX. The city helps orchestrate the experience, from heritage ‘chapter moments’ – including at the brand-new artistic hotspot BRUSK – to local community integration and inclusive journeys.

The other conference cities in Flanders also offer this depth and impact. You can discover them all with a click on the relevant article. You’ll notice straight away: the cities are small, but guarantee an impactful ‘Return on Experience’. In other words: by holding a conference in one of these locations, you’re offering your delegates today’s experience of tomorrow. 

Canal at sunset with historic stone buildings, towers, and people seated along the waterfront

Bruges is a tourist hotspot with a very high ROX.

10 tips to help your conference capitalise on the trend towards “Return on Experience”

  • Tip 1
    Formulate a clear ROX promise that goes beyond “good content”. Here are a few examples:
    “No passive conference: you arrive as a participant and leave as a co-creator of solutions.”
    “Within the first two hours, you’ll feel part of the community — even if you don’t know anyone.”
    “We turn knowledge into an experience: every keynote is translated into actionable micro-actions and peer feedback.”
    “We design encounters: your schedule isn’t packed with sessions, but with meaningful connections.”
    “What starts here continues: after 30 days, the community is still active and you’ll have made visible progress.”

  • Tip 2
    Turn your conference theme into a narrative that runs through the programme, staging, communication and wayfinding.

  • Tip 3
    Design at least three “memorable moments” that people will talk about afterwards.

  • Tip 4
    Organise encounters “by design”, with sufficient white space, a central meeting point, and formats that encourage connection.

  • Tip 5
    Ensure that first-timers and international attendees quickly feel welcome thanks to a warm reception, a clear flow and buddy/host support. 

  • Tip 6
    Make the destination/venue a co-host with a local element and a place-based narrative. The choice of venue should also be made for a clear reason.

  • Tip 7
    Base your programme architecture on energy and experience, with plenty of variety, reflection and interaction. It’s not just about “filling sessions”.

  • Tip 8
    Provide frictionless personalisation thanks to clear tracks and choice paths, good signage and motivated hosts.

  • Tip 9
    Integrate inclusion and accessibility into the journey. It should be low-stimulus, barrier-free, easily accessible and focus on care design.

  • Tip 10
    Don’t just measure satisfaction, but also your ROX. To do this, use KPIs such as belonging, meaning and memorability. 

Bruges: staging encounters for centuries

The canals of Bruges once connected the city to the wider world; today, a new cultural site like BRUSK connects medieval collections with AI-driven art and the hidden rhythms of city life. That tension between old networks and new imagination makes Bruges an interesting place to think about Return on Experience: what happens when a conference becomes part of a city that has been staging encounters for centuries? The full story takes you from cobblestones to data, from Flemish Masters to tomorrow’s experiences.

Click to read more 

Aerial view of a town with red-roofed houses, a glass-roofed building, and a large brick cathedral in foreground.
Studio Woester
Man taking a photo of a stone castle wall across a river, with a small boat and cyclists in the foreground.

Ghent: the city itself takes part

A former monastery, a cultural house, a compact city centre, students, entrepreneurs, makers,... It all adds up to the experience that delegates are not just visiting but belonging. That may be the quiet secret of ROX in Ghent: the sense that the city itself is taking part in your conference. Discover how Ghent becomes a co-author of your conference experience.

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Group of people touring a brewery with large copper brewing kettles in a bright industrial hall.

Leuven: where knowledge leaves the room

In Leuven, a keynote can turn into a walk, a workshop into a site visit, a conversation into an unexpected encounter over local food and drinks. Thanks to the city’s compact scale, ROX is not just about what delegates learn, but about where that learning lands. The full article explores how the city designs experience beyond content. 

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People walking on a bridge toward colorful historic buildings in a European city center.

Mechelen: the transfer is part of the story

The city's charm lies in the way it turns the spaces between programme blocks into memories. Moving from one venue to another can pass historical façades, hidden gardens, open waterways and traces of Burgundy. A presentation might take place in a cinema. A break might become a climb up St Rumbold’s Tower. The full article shows how the city itself becomes a heritage venue. 

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People walking along a seaside promenade beside a large glass building at sunset, with birds in the sky.

Ostend: sea air changes the mood

Ostend adds one element no meeting format can manufacture: the sea. Step outside after a dense conference day, and the rhythm changes. There is the promenade, the beach, the Galleries, the cultural shadow of James Ensor, street art across the city and, yes, the shrimp croquette as local icon. Even its knowledge story is maritime, with the Blue Economy turning the city into a living laboratory by the water.

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Historic city hall with many national flags, a fountain statue in front, and people in a sunlit square.

Antwerp: the city is your venue

That is where Antwerp’s ROX quietly takes shape: not only in the keynote, but in the conversations, detours and shared memories around it. A walk from the Handelsbeurs to the MAS. A reception in Rubens’ former home. A closing party on the water, with the Port House glowing in the background. Antwerp turns quality time into something delegates keep carrying with them. 

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