The Leela Gandhinagar gearing up for domestic and international MICE business
The Leela Gandhinagar provides a multi-functional space for cutting-edge, adaptable indoor and outdoor conference facilities to accommodate small and large-scale business and social events. Jaideep Anand, Vice President and General Manager, The Leela Gandhinagar and Mahatma Mandir Convention and Exhibition Centre, who successfully oversaw the hotel’s launch, gives an insight into the hotel’s MICE aspects as he anticipates a rise in MICE business by the end of 2022.
The Leela Gandhinagar, with 318 rooms, is the first luxury hotel to be built on the air space of a conventional railway station and is located in the capital of India’s vibrant state of Gujarat, with close proximity to Ahmedabad, the country’s first world heritage city by UNESCO.
Within the complex, the Mahatma Mandir Convention and Exhibition Centre by The Leela is India’s largest purposebuilt Convention Centre. Sprawled across 34 acres and built to accommodate 15,000 delegates, the centre is an integrated development comprising a Heads of States Centre, Convention facilities, Exhibition halls, an open-air amphitheatre, expansive lawns, and easy access to The Leela Gandhinagar and Dandi Kutir, India’s largest and only museum on the life and principles of Mahatma Gandhi.
For The Leela Gandhinagar, the corporate MICE queries have started flowing in with the market slowly opening again over the last couple of months. “Currently, though the trend is on a smaller scale of the approximate range of 20 to 150 count, there is the potential to go up to greater numbers over the next quarter. We expect more potential larger format corporate events, exhibitions, conventions, etc., in the latter part of the year. Yes, we are slowly gearing up and are excitedly looking forward to this year as it unfolds. Our signature Leela hospitality culture will certainly enhance the value of the potential business flowing in,
further playing a bigger role in the occupancy growth rate over the period of time this year,” says Jaideep.
The Leela Gandhinagar and Mahatma Mandir Convention and Exhibition Centre operate one of the country’s largest complex corporate conferences, social events, conventions, and exhibition spaces. With over 100,000 sq. ft. flexible events space available, well-supported by the largest 318 room inventory in the twin city of Ahmedabad and Gandhinagar, they are hopeful of hosting large-scale domestic and international events.
With the domestic MICE segment as their priority market in the early phase of this new financial year, they are also keenly following the developments in the international MICE segment. Jaideep elaborates, “As the global market slowly opens up once more, we are observing a potential rise in both the MICE market segments: domestic and international. In the case of the international MICE market segment, we are expecting a rise in the number of business potentials, more so towards the last bit of the year. So as a build-up to that, we are expecting a lot of recurrent small FAM trips happening early this financial year.”
The global pandemic has presented hotels and MICE operators with the unique challenge of hosting large-scale and smallscale events. This has driven every industry to undergo research and come up with unique offerings that will make the experience even more seamless, with the best technological support. The Leela Gandhinagar and Mahatma Mandir Convention and Exhibition Centre have introduced numerous state– of–the–art technological upgrades that will make the experience of hosting events and conferences here even more seamless.
“Starting with the smooth arrival, checkin and check-out at the hotel and access to various state-of-the-art facilities at the convention centre, elevate your event and conference experience to a new level of luxury. Our efforts for your safety and care are also covered under Suraksha by The Leela, which ensures maximum precaution and safety for all our guests. It’s very important to ensure guest safety today and under Suraksha by The Leela, we are and have been successfully able to create a difference in terms of experience in comparison to our competition,” assures Jaideep.
Today, MICE business has evolved a lot, especially post-pandemic for the hospitality industry. A lot more flexibility in terms of space and services is expected by guests today. At The Leela Gandhinagar and Mahatma Mandir Convention and Exhibition Centre, they are looking to drive bespoke MICE events and conferences to match the par excellence standards that they are known for by their guests. They are hoping to see more rise in the MICE segment of business, with both corporate and social segments engaging with them for bespoke events, coupled with the signature Leela hospitality culture.