India to lead for SMM

The India office of JTB will lead the Strategic Meetings Management (SMM) programme in the APAC region, paving the way for its expansion across other regions as well

With JTB India poised to be the back office for Strategic Meetings Management in the APAC region (including Japan), the business travel solutions provider is playing on its front foot in the market. The move is set to make its way to other regions across the world as well. Anil Srinivasan, Executive Director at JTB India, says, “In 2018, we saw an opportunity to get into a new business vertical known as Strategic Meetings Management. We are pretty happy about that business, we believe we can grow it further this year.”

JTB has also selected Cvent to provide the company and its customer base with a

suite of event management solutions that will help them deliver bigger and better events. The ‘Gold' partnership highlights JTB India's focus on addressing the complex and diverse needs of its clients by offering them the solutions they need to make their meetings and events more engaging, more strategic, and more impactful through the use of technology.

Srinivasan says, “Technology is essential to scale our SMM vertical and we work with multinational clients like Siemens, L'Oréal, Dassault Systems, and Capgemini with their SMM needs. There is a lot of untapped potential for the MiCE industry, and we aim to encourage and nurture this growth by providing best-in-class technology solutions like Cvent to our clients, for them to make a lasting business impact through live events.”

JTB began by utilising Cvent for its venue sourcing and today, every employee of JTB swears by Cvent and its benefits. “The convenience of use and reliability of data are very high. The response time on the venue sourcing platform is also very high. We signed up a Gold partnership with Cvent for a period of two years. This gives us some exclusivity

in the marketplace. Cvent has a plethora of tools that address areas like meetings management, events marketing, social media, housing and travel, as well as various onsite solutions, mobile Apps, and tools for data analytics,” he adds.

JTB India will utilise the full spectrum of Cvent's event management offerings including online registration, onsite badging and check-in, mobile event Apps, and feedback and reporting solutions, helping optimise the entire event management value chain. The global MiCE industry is growing exponentially and is projected to reach $1,245 billion in 2023, and the Asia Pacific region is forecasted to see the highest growth rate of 8.6 per cent during the projection period. As industry leaders, both JTB and Cvent are committed to enhancing the live events experience for their customers.

We will share the knowledge and expertise with other JTB offices across the globe