Tag Archives: MICE

About 700 participants are expected at the SingapoReimagine MICE Virtual Show, an event organised by Singapore Tourism Board for local and international MICE players to connect and showcase their offerings. This is its first such collaboration with local MICE players. The two-day event will be held from 3 to 4 March 2021 and is part of Singapore’s efforts to catalyse the MICE industry’s recovery and generate business opportunities for its partners. The event will see up to 40 suppliers like hotels, convention centres and tour operators. Exhibitors include Gardens by the Bay, Singapore Airlines and Sentosa Development Corporation. The top 5 voted buyers will each win a hosted trip to Singapore on Singapore Airlines, inclusive of a hosted stay and exclusive experiences.

In response to suggestions requested from tourism stakeholders to the Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) recently issued for restoration of tourist visa, the trade has recommended that Conference Visa may also be restored along with the tourist visa for supporting the M!CE market, and that SOPs be customised for the same.

Rakesh Verma, Joint Secretary, Ministry of Tourism, shares that there is a need to market India as a M!CE destination. “We have to aggressively market India as a MICE destination. The Government has to back the industry in bringing more events and conventions. Our missions abroad can be of great help. It impacts tourism, hospitality, event management and host of other people in the supply chain. India has great potential for MICE industry. The challenge is how to build a string brand India for conventions and events, while backing it up by delivering on the premises. The Government and the industry must jointly build India as a MICE destination.”

WTTC has unveiled the second phase of measures to rebuild global consumer confidence to encourage the return of travelling. The latest protocols are designed to enable sectors such as tour operators and convention centres, meetings and events to thrive once again. The extended measures follow the ‘Safe Travels’ guidelines that were launched by WTTC on May 12. Detailed discussions took place with key stakeholders and organisations to ensure maximum buy-in, alignment and practical implementation, to set clear expectations of what travellers may experience in the ‘new normal’. Those relating to airports and airlines have been devised following close consultation with WTTC Members IATA and Airports Council International (ACI), to rebuild trust and provide reassurance that airports and airlines will offer safe environments in which to fly once travel restrictions are relaxed.

According to a report by ResearchAndMarkets.com titled ‘India Outbound Meetings, Incentives, Conferences and Exhibitions (M!CE) Tourism to Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) Countries – Market Trends and Opportunities to 2025’ released in December 2019, UAE is the top destination for Indian MICE tourists. Saudi Arabia and Bahrain accounted for more than 15 per cent of the share of the total outbound MICE spending by Indians in 2018. The India outbound MICE market to the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries is set to surpass US$ 5 Billion by 2025. The report uses a country-focused analysis to explore India outbound MICE tourism market to GCC countries. The report includes historical data from 2014-2018 and forecasts until 2025. It covers six GCC nations: Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates (UAE), Kuwait, Qatar, Oman, and Bahrain.

Over 80 per cent CEOs from leading hospitality firms in India believe that the sector will see robust growth in the coming years, according to a latest report titled ‘Hospitality insights from the Indian CEO’s desk’ by Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) and PWC. Eighty-three per cent CEOs believe that revenues from business travellers will grow significantly over the next few years. Although MiCE has not been a significant contributor to the Indian hospitality sector so far, this trend is likely to change with better planning as well as improved infrastructure. On the other hand, few CEOs believe that leisure travel will keep pace with growth seen in business travel and MiCE.

FITUR 2019 opens with a quest for specialisation and to promote key segments for the tourism industry. This year, the show contains a new B2B area focusing on MiCE tourism. This networking tool lays emphasis on incentives, meetings and business travel tourism and provides FITUR exhibitors the chance to establish contact with 100 highly-qualified international buyers. FITUR 2019 has become the global meeting point for tourism professionals and has once again become the leading trade fair for the incoming and outgoing markets of Latin America. The last edition brought together 251,000 participants, with over 6,800 business meetings. Madrid welcomed this international show with the launch of FITUR IS MUSIC, a new cultural event that was created within the framework of FITUR FESTIVALS.

PS Duggal, Executive Director, Minar Travels, has been conferred the Gallery of Legends trophy at India Travel Awards 2018. Having started as a banking professional at ANZ Bank, he joined the company in 1992 and has since been part of the growth story. With 26 years of experience in the industry, Duggal now looks after the entire administration and accounts of the company whilst coordinating with all its offices across countries. Today, Minar Travels is a market leader in Russia, Kazakhstan and Ukraine, and has an international presence in 32 countries, with inroads in the Latin and North American markets as well as Europe and Asia. The company is of the biggest aviation services and destination management companies in the country with 16 offices in India and nine overseas. It is also the GSA for eight airlines. The luxury division became a traveller-made DMC in 2018. That’s not all, the company’s MiCE division is also a huge success.  

The fifth edition of India Travel Awards concluded at Hotel Clarks Shiraz Agra amidst the presence of the stalwarts of the travel and tourism industry. The chief guest for the evening was Satyajeet Rajan, Director General, Ministry of Tourism, Government of India, who not only felicitated the winners, but also congratulated them for their contribution to the industry. The award was given in a total of 74 categories, celebrating the achievements of travel professionals in travel and MiCE industries across the country. India Travel Awards celebrates the winners and achievers of the travel industry by honouring them at a glittering ceremony.

Speaking at the 5th edition of the Travel MiCE Show at the Hyderabad Marriott Hotel & Convention Centre, RH Khwaja, Former Secretary, Tourism, revealed that India’s capital expenditure was 11 per cent in tourism between 2011-17. He further said that India is growing in MiCE sector and there is a need for quality in terms of offering MiCE services. Besides, he insisted that India needs to work on its domestic products, apart from foreign exchange earnings by inbound tourists.