Yours Officially
Paul Town, Vice President - Revenue Management & Sales, Galaxy Macau
How do you plan to position your hotel in India?
At the moment, we are positioning our hotel as an integrated resort (our USP) and more specifically we are targeting the Indian market as a potential wedding destination. Very few hotels feature so many facilities under one roof - three hotels, 50 restaurants, a series of hi-end bars, cinema and lots of live entertainment. It’s uncommon that this level of integrated resort element can exist at one place - that’s how we are different from the others.
In what way does Galaxy Macau cater specifically to Indian weddings?
We identify the fact that the Indian wedding event has big potential. A typical Indian destination wedding is a multifaceted three-day event with lots of activity and entertainment. We have an integrated resort where this kind of activity can happen all in one place. We have utilised the nature of the integrated resort - 2200 rooms, three branded properties across a massive area - and positioned our integrated resort concept as a destination needed for the Indian wedding market and created a package that suits them. Where we are unique is that we are able to host the entire three-day wedding event, accommodation, ceremonies, etc. We even have facilities for sangeet,
mehendi, jaimala, etc. For the jaimala, we provide the Diamond Lobby, which has a huge space. We have a mix of about four-five function rooms and the restaurants. We have a pretty broad range of facilities, including outdoor facilities that can also be used to host an Indian wedding.
What is the growth that you expect from the Indian MICE market?
Overall, the corporate market within India has the largest potential of growth of all Indian markets over the next ten years. We see a lot of investment in the country in infrastructure and development. It’s a rapidly growing sector. Traditionally, the sector has utilised its domestic facilities. We are starting to see some outbound activity and some hi-end incentive groups, like partners and senior sales officials in Indian companies are now going abroad for their incentive activities. What we are witnessing is that about 20-40 senior executives go away for two-three days to reestablish company vision, have a little bit of downtime and some entertainment as well. In terms of where I see the growth, it’s hard as we are just starting to work with this market, but it sure seems positive.
In India, Macau is perceived as a leisure destination and not a MICE destination yet, but we are working to change that perception
What are the challenges that you face with the Indian MICE market?
India is a bit further away from our other MICE generating markets. Most of our MICE clients come from Hong Kong, which is a one-hour ferry ride away. The typical length of a MICE group’s stay is two-three days and for Indians that’s not very feasible. Most of the Indian groups club Hong Kong and Macau - three days in Macau and two days in Hong Kong. The distance is a key challenge for us. Also, in India, Macau is perceived as a leisure destination and not a MICE destination yet, but we are working to change that perception.
What are the incentives that you have for the MICE market?
The MICE segment is still a small segment for us, as most of the focus is on weddings. However, on the MICE side, we have some tailor-made packages that we distribute through agents in the market and there are some advantages given to the Indian market specifically to try and stimulate it.