‘India has global potential as a MICE destination’
MICE business in India is poised to grow, buoyed by recent initiatives by the Ministry of Tourism and India becoming a rising economic power in the region. MICE has been a priority area, and if you look at the recent trends, the development has been unprecedented, whether it is an offsite program for the corporates or national conventions and exhibitions.
The recent trend shows that the MICE Industry is intimately linked to economic development as increasing priority is being given to boosting infrastructure. It generally requires significant public funding to build Convention and Exhibition facilities and improve access to public transport, highways, airports, and rail and hospitality infrastructures, which in turn improves the MICE sector.
We in MICE industry are now fully prepared to cater to the client. During COVID, it was a big challenge for all of us to come back and adopt the new normal, focus on risk-based approaches, avoid knee-jerk reactions and collaborate and coordinate with as many related stakeholders as possible to benefit the MICE Industry.
What makes India interesting for MICE tourism is that we have excellent facilities for meeting up to 1000 delegates in our key cities, apart from big convention and exhibition infrastructures. As per ICCA statistics, 80 to 85 per cent of the events held the world over have less than 1000 delegates. So, we are well-positioned to service bigger events. In addition to the infrastructure, there is also an added attraction of cultural diversity, and India, as knowledge capital, has great potential as a MICE destination.
With the pandemic ebbing, the factors which are going to drive and impede the growth of MICE tourism are:
Market creation: we need to prioritise the source markets and the same should be developed in the form of an annual Marketing
Calendar.
Confidence building: Industry bodies and Government need to work closely in creating the perception of safe tourism.
Measuring the economic importance of MICE: It will be very important for the Ministry of Tourism to initiate steps for measuring the economic importance of the Meeting Industry. (a) Assessment of the Market (b) Cost analysis and economic assessment. (c) Size of the MICE Industry.
India’s prospects for MICE Tourism are numerous. India can capture world attention as a World MICE Hub. There is also a dynamic business opportunity, as our splendid venues for MICE Tourism are no less than global standards.