Tag Archives: MICE

The 10th Travel MICE & Corporate Show concluded at the Hyderabad Marriott Convention Centre from 6-7 July in the City of Pearls. Around 2300 B2B meetings were held across two days with around 33 exhibitors and 72 buyers. The theme of this year’s event was sustainability, with dignitaries sharing insights on how to develop sustainable travel programmes.

Speaking about MICE, Suman Billa, Additional Secretary, Tourism, said, “It is a big opportunity and there is a need to bring the biggest conferences of the world here, to show the size of India’s offerings. With world-class conferencing infrastructure like Bharat Mandapam, we need to look at how we can utilise those to get more conferences in India.”

HRAWI presented inputs for curating the Maharashtra Convention Promotion Bureau to Maharashtra Tourism Development Corporation (MTDC), a council to promote the state as an attractive and suitable location for hosting conferences, conventions, and business events, considering that events boost economic development and accelerate tourism in the state.

Naveen Kundu, MD, EbixCash Travel, said, “The size of the MICE market is about 30 million today, including domestic and international. Therefore, there is a huge potential for the organised M!CE industry to come together, collaborate, innovate, and then handle the entire mammoth business that is coming our way.”

Moscow City Tourism Committee will host the BRICS+ Tourism Forum from 20 to 21 June this year, in Moscow. They expect to welcome 9 tourism ministers and 18 delegations from countries from the Middle East and South East Asia with over 300 delegates. It was revealed at the conference ‘Shaping the MICE Future,’ held recently.  

“NIMA Members and other M!CE operators sitting in tier II, III cities are contributing a lot to the M!CE business. Business from these cities has increased by 15 – 20 per cent as compared to 2022 – 2023,” says Gajesh Girdhar, Founder & National Coordinator, NIMA (Network of Indian M!CE Agents).

Ranjana Sharma, Managing Director, Trav n Tours International (TNTI) said, “River cruises is gaining popularity nowadays. While the other major cruises are primarily for summer seasons, river cruises cater more to niche markets. Additionally, emerging trends include Scandinavia experiencing a strong emergence, ski resorts gaining popularity, and an increase in M!CE groups considering cruises for hosting events. Indeed, many M!CE events are taking place on cruises due to their all-inclusive nature and convenience for organizers. However, river cruises are more geared towards the leisure market.”

MOT has launched ‘Meet in India’, a distinct sub-brand under ‘Incredible India’ to position the country as a M!CE destination. This was shared during India’s participation at AIME 2024. It will highlight exclusive features: excellent connectivity, world-class infrastructure, a knowledge hub, and unique tourist attractions.

“To maximize the benefit, TAT divides the allotted incentive budget for the MICE group into tier II and tier III cities along with tier I cities,” Siriges-A-Nong Trirattanasongpol, Director, Tourism Authority of Thailand, responded when asked about the initiatives Thailand is taking to attract MICE groups to the country.

Datuk Musa, DDG of Promotion for Malaysia said, “Incentives are offered to travel agents to organize charter flights from India to Malaysia, targeting MICE segments. With an aim to attract more tourists, not only via commercial flights but also specially arranged charters.”