Impact of Elections on MICE

As the nation is going through the most important elections in recent years, MICEtalk speaks to the industry stalwarts on their expectations from the new government and the impact of the 2014 elections on MICE.

Political stability will help outbound MICE rise further SanJeet Tourism Attaché, Philippines Tourism Marketing Office, India

Despite there being a slowdown in MICE movements due to the uncertainty in the political scenario last year and early this year in India, Philippines has already seen some MICE movements from the start of the year 2014 from India. Post the OTOAI Convention held in December 2013, Philippines witnessed a substantial increase in Indian arrivals from January to March this year. There will be a slump in outbound Indian travel due to the upcoming elections in the month of April. We are optimistic that there will be an increase in movement in the third and fourth quarters if political and economic stability are sustained in the country, post elections. The rupee devaluation, which was also holding back outbound movement for some time is not a hindrance any more. An increasing number of Indians are choosing Philippines for their MICE activities now. In the first week of April, we have a group of about 525 people heading to Manila. The country is fast becoming a popular MICE destination, with increasing awareness about the product amongst Indians. Philippines has many MICE venues on offer and we are confident that we will be able to attract more numbers for MICE.

Compared to other Asian countries, India is far behind, not only in terms of infrastructure, but also

in the attitude towards the MICE segment