MiCE greets with a NAMASTE!
The national capital region has a plethora of offerings of MiCE in terms of numerous hotels, new and old attractions. In our cover story we explore the myriad possibilities to host inbound and domestic MiCE in NCR
RENU BASU Global Vice President – Sales, Indian Hotels Company Limited
TAJ MICE VENUES
Famed for its unmatched hospitality and commitment to excellence in service, Taj Hotels Palaces Resorts Safaris offers over 1.29 lakh sq. ft. of meeting, convention and event space in NCR. The iconic Taj Diplomatic Enclave is New Delhi’s preferred event and meeting destination and synonymous with signature wedding celebrations. This hotel pioneered the concept of a purpose-built convention hotel with a variety of 6 well-spaced and luxurious venues. Based on extensive research and market studies, the hotel was designed specifically for conclaves which call for high levels of security, access control, breakout sessions, green rooms, VIP lounges, large movement of guests, adequate residential rooms etc. and three decades later, in its newly renovated avatar, the Taj Diplomatic Enclave continues to set benchmarks in handling large format corporate and social events.
The décor is inspired by Mughal architecture and is seamlessly infused with state-of-the-art and modern conferencing facilities. The 12,700 sq. ft. Durbar Hall is the favoured venue for heads of state, dignitaries, corporate czars, highpowered conferences and has hosted the grandest of weddings for close to four decades.
Additionally, The Taj Mahal Hotel, Vivanta by Taj Ambassador, Vivanta by Taj Surajkund, Vivanta by Taj Dwarka, Taj City Centre Gurugram and The Gateway Resort Damdama Lake offer over 25 ideal meetings and banqueting spaces.
MULTI-PRONGED CULINARY STRATEGY
Catering for meetings, conferences and weddings is a subset which is a strong hold of the Taj. The menus are specially curated for each event and it will always be customised basis the audience for the event – keeping in mind the cultural sensitivities of the group. We also incorporate any specific dietary restrictions of delegates as advised by the organiser. The Taj’s experience of over 115 years of banqueting and the plethora of cuisines we specialise in across the group allows us to leverage this expertise and deliver whatever the guest needs.
IMPORTANT EVENTS
Taj Hotels have historically played the perfect host to Royalty, Heads of State, visiting dignitaries and world leaders. Taj Diplomatic Enclave has hosted numerous events of political and economic significance - a few of which have happened in the last six months. ASEAN Heads of State Summit – January 2018 ORF Raisina Dialogue –
Taj Diplomatic Enclave is a preferred event and meeting destination
December 2017
Indo-Israel Business Summit – December 2017
Global Business Summit (by TOI) – February 2018
Egon Zehnder Worldwide Partner Meet – February 2018
World Economic Forum – October 2017 HT Leadership Summit – November 2017 JP Morgan Investor Conference – September 2017
Over the last few years, Vivanta by Taj Dwarka and Vivanta by Taj Surajkund have also become venues for residential conferences and weddings. The extensive indoor and outdoor spaces and large inventory of rooms at both these hotels have attracted marquee names like Mercedes, SAP, TATA Communications, TCS, Pfizer, Honda, Maruti, Audi etc, to organise their customer meets, internal conferences and retreats at these venues. The Taj City Centre Gurugram and The Gateway Resort, Damdama Lake have quickly established themselves as popular destinations in the Gurugram BCD. Taj City Centre Gurugram has raised the benchmark of a modern luxury hotel, perfectly balancing the needs of the corporate business traveller as well as the MiCE customer, in a centrally located area of the Gurugram BCD. The Gateway Resort, Damdama Lake has become one of the most popular resorts for retreats and residential conferences, as well as destination weddings.
DIFFICULT SITUATION, HANDLED WITH FINESSE
Taj’s specialised and dedicated MiCE team has the expertise of handling large scale meetings, incentives, conferences and events and ensures seamless, unparalleled service at all times. The venue for a large format event with an expected number of guests of 200-250 had to be shifted from an outdoor to an indoor one due to unfavourable weather conditions. The event had an extensive audio-visual set-up with large LED screens, PA system, seating for the guests and a heavy duty stage. The team at The Taj Mahal Hotel, New Delhi left no stone unturned to manage this situation successfully. The turnaround time to shift the venue on the day of the event at the very last minute was around three hours and the new venue was ready to roll the event before the invite time.
DEDICATED TEAM
We have a dedicated MiCE team that is capable of catering to groups ranging from 10 to 10,000 people. From leadership summits to large incentive groups, our holistic approach captures the best of the weddings and MiCE segment. Almost all our hotels across the group, have dedicated onsite teams to take care of events, be it corporate or social in nature.
NCR FOR MiCE
India is emerging as one of the most popular MiCE destinations due to its rich heritage, vibrant culture and diverse destination offerings, and the ever-improving infrastructure for logistics and events; inviting outbound as well as inbound travel. The government has been very proactive in taking steps to promote MiCE tourism including e-visa initiative for international delegates. The setting up of the ICPB some years ago has also enabled the industry to come together under this umbrella body to synchronise efforts in the MiCE space. We are confident that there will be even more impetus in the marketing efforts both by ICPB and the Ministry of Tourism.
We have a dedicated team that is capable of catering to groups ranging from 10 to 10,000 pax