MOT to help states attract MICE
The Indian States have been urged to come forward with land-banks for creation of MICE infrastructure, and are promised full support from the Ministry of Tourism.
In fact, many states have already come forward to work with MOT to leverage the MICE advantage,” he added.
Incredible India will have to develop niche products to register incremental growth in inbound arrivals and register itself as a roundthe-year destination, believes one of the very credible voices in the Ministry of Tourism.
Girish Shanker, Additional Secretary, Ministry of Tourism (MOT) said, “We are working on promoting various niche products to enhance the attractiveness of Incredible India. In my opinion, Meetings, Incentives, Conventions & Events (MICE), Golf and Cinema will be the niche segments that will show the fastest conversion rate in terms of registering increase in foreign arrivals.”
“As part of our strategy to promote MICE in India, the MOT is keen to promote convention centres and international conventions in India. We are also considering a MICE policy for India to develop such facilities across the entire country. States have been urged to come forward with land-banks for creation of MICE infrastructure, with full support from MOT.
Further, as per Shanker, at the recently-held UNWTO meets in India, all the guests were more than delighted, looking at the MICE events that India handled with aplomb. “We have been getting so many feedbacks from our guests, who were part of the UNWTO meets in Andhra Pradesh. They had all been amazed by the hospitality and MICE amenities that India offered during the UNWTO meets,” he added.
On the golf tourism front, Shanker highlights that a detailed strategy is being worked out. India, as a global Cinema hub to shoot films, had been recently promoted at the Cannes International Film festival. The MOT and Ministry of Information and Broadcasting had recently
entered into a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to promote films in India as a sub-brand of ‘Incredible India’ at various international film festivals like IFFI Goa, the European Film Market, Cannes and other markets abroad.
“Consequent to the agreement, to develop synergy between tourism and the film industry and to provide a platform for enabling partnerships between the Indian and global film industry, the ministries jointly organised a presentation and an Incredible India booth at the exhibition during the Cannes film festival, along with various other activities,” added Shanker.