Creating a Buzz

On the sidelines of the 9th Convention India Conclave ( CIC), Chander Mansharamani, Vice Chairman, ICPB, shares perspective on the ripples that MICE generates

300 REGISTERED DELEGATES

Talking about the 9th Conventions India Conclave, he says, “In numbers we have more than 300 registered delegates, which include the buyers and sellers. The sessions were really excellent, you saw one session that discussed new topics. The sessions were quite interactive with the delegates as well as the panellists participating. There were also seven good organisations from abroad who have participated. The Secretary Tourism also announced few important policies for which he had taken an initiative. The policies which he wants to implement through ICPB, this is good news for all of us at ICPB.”

FOCUSSING MICE

Talking about the major challenge that MICE industry faces, he adds, “We do not have any research on the size of the industry. There is not a single body either at the city or centre level which is tracking the MICE industry, its growth, trends and outlook. What is the economic impact of holding an event in the city? These things are very important for development of MICE infrastructure. The MICE industry all over the world is approximately US$ 480 Billion industry. India's share is only about two per cent, which is very less. Compare it to Singapore that gets 30 per cent of the tourism revenue. So we need to work on it to get more revenue out of the MICE industry”

DEVELOPING MICE THROUGH ROADSHOWS

Talking about future events of ICPB, he adds, “ICPB will be coming up with an event in January. It will be a training programme on international bidding, in collaboration with ICCA. It will be a residential programme in the second week of January. In March, we will be doing an event with the Maharashtra Government in Mumbai. In- between there will be two road shows. It is important to sensitise the state governments and local players. We are looking forward to the next road show in Guwahati. Where we can help all the NE states in developing the MICE industry. We have already done a programme in Sri Nagar that had a very good response. Wherein all the locals have come in and said that we must do some kind of trainings so that we can handle those MICE movements which are different from tourism. The second roadshow will be probably in Guwahati. One more roadshow will be before March, next year in Kolkata. Kolkata is also an emerging convention city. We are also working on a plan for the rest of year for more events.”

BRAND FOR MICE?

Talking about the next conclave, he adds, “The next conclave will be in Delhi only. In the next conclave, as suggested by Zutshi, all the major states, which have good convention facilities, should be a part of the conclave. "We are going to bring all states at one platform, where we can discuss the MICE business. We will bring in the directors of all the tourist offices from abroad also. They also need to be aware of the MICE activities.”

Talking about promoting Indian MICE abroad, he adds, “We need to have a focussed MICE brand. It could be a sub brand, exclusively for MICE. The first step we are requesting is to create a MICE brand, like Incredible India is a mother brand, a sub brand can be created and secondly in terms of publicity, media plan, advertising, TV or social media at least 20 to 25 per cent should focus on MICE.”

CERTIFICATION COURSE TO SKILL MANPOWER

Giving details on two new initiatives that ICPB has taken, he concludes, “We are going to create an educational trust, through which we will be giving scholarships to the deserving students. As well as those who have excelled in their studies, graduation and post graduation. There is a buzz in the MICE industry, everybody is talking about MICE the government is also serious about creating more infrastructure. There has to be manpower to handle the additional business. ICPB is going to create a certification course on the lines of the international agencies.

There will be a certification course for students where they will be working on their post graduation and graduation courses, after that they will come to us; we will train them for two to three weeks. Then we will have a practical training for six months, at our PCOs and venues. Out of that, 20 people we will absorb straightaway into the industry. So this is a new initiative that ICPB is taking.”

The MICE industry all over the world is approximately US$ 480 Billion industry. India’s share is only about two per cent