MICE, a new tourism era

The recenty-held Global MICE Travel Mart was a testimony to the immense MICE scope in India. Indian states need to colloborate to attain suitable MICE offerings regionwise

In a positive move for the MICE segment, the government aims to roll out the National Tourism Policy, which is expected to provide single window clearance for organisation of meetings and conferences. This was indicated by Satyajeet Rajan, Director General, Ministry of Tourism, Government of India, at the recentlyheld second edition of Global MICE Travel Mart (GMTM) from September 14-15, 2017 in Delhi. The two-day event, organised by FICCI jointly with the Ministry of Tourism, Government of India, saw unveiling of a FICCI-MRSS Knowledge Paper on ‘MICE Tourism Powerhouse of a New Era Tourism' and B2B netwoking sessions among various stakeholders.

INCENTIVES IMPERATIVE

Concurring with the view of stakeholders, Rajan opined that the provision of incentives is crucial to make it competitive in the world market. He added that there was a pressing need to conduct a study to assess size of the industry and that a consultant was being appointed to suggest a workable roadmap for the development of the sector. Chander Mansharamani, Vice Chairman, ICPB and Managing Director, Alpcord Network Travel & Conferences Management Company, said that MICE was an economic activity and there was an imperative need for the creation of a market for the sector. To make India a suitable MICE hub, he emphasised on the requirement of a comprehensive database, for building capacities and capabilities.

As per ICCA Statistics release in 2017, India occupies 31st position in the world, with a total of 143 Global conferences organised in 2015-16

UNEXPLORED INDIAN MICE DESTINATIONS

The state of West Bengal has sprung lucrative potential of MICE tourism, stated Amitava Rathod, Deputy General Manager, West Bengal Tourism Development Corporation. He said that the state is blessed advanced technology, rich cultural heritage with superior hospitality with a wide-ranging landscape. The advent of

new convention centre projects such as HIDCO, Digha and Bagdogra coming up in the state, West Bengal is bound to lead the country in MICE tourism, he added.

Sabbas Joseph, President EEMA and Director, Wizcraft, suggested that some of the states could be aggressively supported in the MICE segment so that their success stories could be replicated across the country. Citing the example, FICCIIIFA Business Forum, he said that the media and entertainment industry provides a great business opportunity for MICE tourism.

MICE TOURISM HOTSPOT

The six-point agenda of the study, a FICCIMRSS Knowledge Paper on ‘MICE Tourism Powerhouse of a New Era Tourism', suggested a roadmap for development of India as a MICE tourism hotspot.

Promote concept of exclusive MICE tourism to target markets

Maintain co-ordination and align with the Central Agency

Developing Time bound action plan Imbibe Skill Development

Create experiences for the visitors

MICE IN INDIA: THE NEXT STEP

A panel discussion on the 'Next big step on MICE in India' was chaired by Rajan and moderated by Rajan Sehgal, Member, FICCI Tourism Committee, Chairman- Northern Region, TAAI and President, India Golf Tourism Association; the panellists included: Amaresh Tiwari, Hon. Secretary–I C PB and Managing Director-AT & Seasons Vacations Travel; Tajinder Singh, VP S&M, Best Western Hotels & Resorts – India, Bangladesh& Sri Lank a; RakhiK an karia, Member FICCI Tourism Committee, Joint Secretary Hyderabad Chapter, FICCI Ladies Organisation & Founder Director, Rachnoutsav Events; Tanuja Pandey, Member, National Tourism Advisory Committee, Ministry of Tourism; Nishant Goel, DGM, Intex Technologies; Ajay Kapoor, VP-Procurement, Canara HSBC Life. The session threw light on how as other countries of the world which are booming in the MICE segment, India too, as a country can work on its diverse qualities of unique MICE offerings. Singh stated that nowadays all the hotels in India are fully equipped with technology but still they practice the traditional touch of Indian hospitality where the guests have fair number of conceirge service at the beck of a call. He gave examples of MICE offerings in numerous cities of India. Like in Srinagar, the SKICC is one of the most beautiful convention centre where one can have both indoor and outdoor meetings at the backdrop of the beautiful Dal lake. Similarly in Jaipur and in Delhi, NCR areas, the availability of suitable convention centres is there. And now with Maharashtra and West Bengal state governments going gung-ho on the MICE facilities in the respective states, the future of MICE in India looks bright. Kankaria elucidated on how a colloboration between government and agencies can help develop MICE in the country optimally.