Guidelines for MoT’s incentives for M!CE
first! The expense is not a hurdle as people have money to spend on weddings. They start saving for this one event 20 years in advance. So they have enough savings for this. The wedding industry is here to stay! First we need to fill Indian hotels. Anyway, right now we are scared to travel and are afraid to get on airplanes. Yes, there will be new norms for weddings. Masks and gloves will become
Taking this thought forward, Kale believes that domestic luxury M!CE will bounce back first. “It will be affordable luxury as the hotels will be hungry for business due to low occupancies. The big chains such as Marriott will open first. And, by end of the year, short-distance M!CE destinations in India will be in doing our Rewards and Recognitions Programme on a digital platform instead of a banquet hall,” Kale reveals.
Virtual meetings might be the norm
Meanwhile, in the corporate sector, Bhattacharya feels that virtual meetings are here to stay. “What has not happened in decades has happened in the last two months. Companies now feel - Rajdev Bhattacharya
that the ‘work from home’ option can also be productive. Another thing that I have seen happen in the last two months is large deals closing via video calls. I want to believe this is temporary as it is not good for business travel.
To this, Jain quipped, “Before I say anything, I have a message to the corporate world – please don't encourage virtual meetings. It is all about personal experiences and face-to-face interactions. We must be ready
to start doing business in India in the next few months. As far as buyouts are concerned, they will continue for weddings. Weddings cannot take place without buyouts. I completely believe that this segment is going to save the hotel industry and domestic travel in India.” Jain added this is only the second webinar he has opted to be part of.
His message to the hotel industry in India: please don’t undersell yourself! Hold your bookings and sell them at your own rate. “I am projecting a 15 per cent growth in the wedding market by February 2021,” he said.
Managing corporate expectations
Technology is here to stay, and stressing on this point was Bhattacharya, who said, “It is going to change the behaviour of people. Corporates will not buy travel the same way as before, that's for sure. That means the travel agencies will also have to become digital. When that happens, the mix of people that travel companies employ is going to change. It will depend on the kind of skillsets they possess. This is apart from the domain knowledge they have. The travel counsellors can easily pick these skills up during the lockdown period. By the end of it, they will be thanking 2020 for giving them the opportunity to arm themselves with new skills. The entire travel industry is going to move to IT. They will also have to learn how to close deals on the phone.” He recommends five
Conferences will require minimum of 500 participants and must comprise at least 20% foreign participants to be eligible for the incentive.
Financial incentive will be extended to international conference/ convention organisers in the form of reimbursing 50% of GST on hotel rooms for international/fore ign participants/NRIs on actual basis subject to GST being paid to be not more than 18%. Incentive of GST incurred on hotel stay up to a maximum charge of 8,000 per day per room will be made for one night only. Incentive will be available for three years.
skills that today’s travel professional needs to learn (see box).
Sharing his point of view, Kale added that the entire process of travel is going to become touchless. “Some countries already offer e-visas. We have to wait and see how the rest of the countries are going to adapt to this amidst COVID-19. We are going to get ourselves equipped to do this entire end-to-end process digitally. Companies that can digitise every stage of travel bookings and reduce touchpoints will survive and re-define the travel business. This happened in a small way during SARS,” he said, adding that speed and errorless transactions will be some of the client expectations going forward.
Top Indian for weddings destinations
For Jain, India offers many options for destination weddings. “Rajasthan has always been a popular destination for weddings. Jaipur takes the biggest share of the pie, followed by Udaipur. We are also trying to develop new spots in Rajasthan such as Pushkar, apart from Jodhpur which has huge potential. We are also looking at newer destinations in other states such as Mahabalipuram in Tamil Nadu. It promises to have a huge share in the wedding market. And, of course, Goa that has always been very popular,” he says.
In terms of M!CE travel though, Kale feels that cities like Hyderabad, Jaipur, Kolkata and Mahabalipuram will be great destinations that have good infrastructure. “In terms of exhibitions, our ‘Make in India’ programme and the ‘Atma Nirbhar’ scheme will give the sector a lot of opportunities for exhibitions within India. The government has also come up with certain policies for M!CE, one of them being extending monetary benefits to any exhibition organiser that has 20 per cent of foreign delegates. My view is that in the last quarter of 2020, we will see a lot of RFPs for exhibitions coming up and those who are armed to handle it well amidst COVID-19 will stand to win,” he says.
In the end though, whichever city it is, the hotel brands that show huge emphasis on hygiene and sanitation will come back strongly as customers will choose them over others. Bhattacharya says, “There will be a willingness on the part of all corporates to pay a premium for brands which will showcase their high hygiene standards. This is the primary shift from the price point of view of corporates.”