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With the MICE (meetings, incentives, conferences, exhibitions) sector growing at a faster pace and the focus shifting from Europe to the Asia Pacific region, India is on the verge of reaching the tip of the iceberg.
But accounting for the fact that MICE is globally focused, the high-ranking infrastructure, necessary convention facilities, safety and efficient branding become the prerequisites to holding a MICE event. Additionally, countries like Singapore, Thailand, UAE, China, Macau and Malaysia are already preferred destinations in the region and India faces tough competition.
Standing 28th in rank with 158 meetings in 2019 ICCA ranking of countries, India is still cementing the cracks to be able to attract more inbound traction for MICE and stand next to global MICE giants.
Therefore, looking at India’s overall performance as an ideal MICE destination, which currently is considered to be poor but with promising growth ahead, there is a need to look into the possibilities of whether Indian MICE standards will ever surpass other countries to reserve a higher position globally.
India – a poor MICE performer
Speaking of India’s outbound MICE market, it is considered one of the fastest-growing markets globally but when it comes to the incoming MICE travellers, India still stands way behind the leading global giants.
As per ICCA Country and City Rankings 2019, the USA remained the number one country with 934 meetings out of a total 13,254 meetings. The top 20 countries have remained largely unchanged with countries alternating one or two positions. India with 158 meetings was at 28th rank as per 2019 ICCA rankings.
In each vertical of MICE, be it meetings, incentives, conferences, exhibitions/events, the recall value of the Indian MICE is considered low, as mentioned in the National Strategy for MICE Industry 2022 report collated by the Ministry of Tourism. Indian MICE has less than 1 percent share in the estimated global MICE business despite the natural and cultural advantages of India and being one of the highest growing economies, the report states.
Indian cities are ranked poorly in the international ranking of cities by ICAA in terms of the number of international association meetings.
Even though MICE in India has a competitive landscape to hold huge MICE events, the sector still stands far behind in matching up to international standards. The report adds that there is ‘a lack of focused approach to developing and promoting the MICE industry in the country’ and there is no national level policy on MICE.
The report further highlights the Indian MICE’ weaknesses and mentions the issue of high taxes where the industry is seen actively involved in advocating for reducing GST rates on hotels, granting ‘infrastructure’ status to hotels by Central governments and ‘industry’ status for hotels, exhibition centers & convention centers by state governments to make India MICE globally competitive.
It further adds that the global MICE events require a very high degree of professionalism and service quality and there is a lack of standardisation of processes and services for every touch point of MICE in India.
Speaking further, Managing Director of Southern Travels, Krishna Mohan Alapati underlined that the government and private players must invest to provide skilled manpower to the MICE industry in India, ensuring top-quality services. These indeed can help India up its MICE game.
Naveen Kundu, Managing Director Ebixcash Travel- India, Middle East & ASEAN, accentuated that India is way behind the facilities it offers for large conventions and congresses, considering how diverse the country is.
“We have been very late in waking up to the fact of how MICE can become a powerful economic driver of our country,” said Kundu.
Kundu added that India is poised for unbelievable growth in MICE as far as the Indian corporate market goes and this will create opportunities both for domestic and international sectors, however, he pointed out, if we have to bring incoming MICE into India and pitch ourselves against the giants, then the country needs to build a robust infrastructure and focus on 3 C’s – ‘convention centres, connectivity, creativity’.
Manish Dayya, General Manager, Novotel Hyderabad Convention Centre & Hyderabad International Convention Centre highlighted the way forward saying that tourism is an ever-evolving industry that comes with its scenario of expectations and a whirlwind of change and therefore, an enhanced perspective about identifying opportunities will do wonders for Indian MICE and tourism segment in general.
“Looking into international trends to promote sustainable tourism, collating strategies, revising existing mannerisms to a more modern approach and new ways to ideate the attraction of tourists to the country is the way forward,” Dayya added.
MICE Tourism seems to be getting back with a stronger groove and will continue to be one of the strongest revenue generators, affirmed Dayya.
Sharing his bit of excitement with ETTravelWorld on Novotel & HICC Complex bagging the ‘Best Standalone Convention Centre’, the General Manager, Manish Dayya said that the hotel is already experiencing a bounce back of regular guests and Q4 will see strong growth from certain segments. He also shared the hotel’s interest in exploring the Outdoor Catering opportunity to strengthen its presence in F&B.
Rearranging the blocks to stand at par with global MICE standards
According to the research report titled ‘India Inbound Meetings, Incentives, Conferences and Exhibitions (MICE) Tourism Market Report: 2018 – 2025’, available with MarketStudyReport, India’s inbound MICE tourism market is anticipated to exceed USD 5 billion by the year 2025.
The terms like ‘one of the fastest growing economies’ and ‘world’s largest democracy’ have helped escalate the valuation of MICE in India. An analysis of the world market shows that there is saturation in the matured markets of the US and Europe and the Asia Pacific is emerging as the next destination in the global MICE market and it is an opportune time for India to look into its potential and rebuild this sector’s demand to fully exploit this opportunity.
“The World Economic Forum sprang a happy surprise with its prediction that the Indian economy will become the third largest in the world by the year 2030 only behind the US and China. The economic parameters prevailing in the country are helping India to emerge as a big market for the MICE industry and players in MICE segments have geared up to realise the potential this sector offers,” stated Amaresh Tiwari, Vice Chairman – ICPB and Member – India MICE Board.
According to Tiwari, there are several steps to rebuild MICE tourism in India with policymakers, the Ministry of Tourism, Govt. of India and state governments working together towards one goal- making India a preferred MICE destination.
He suggested that to focus on the segment’s efficient marketing, allocation of budget in MoT for promotion, branding India under the “Meet In India” tagline, the release of MICE-related advertisements, active participation in international MICE trade shows like IMEX Frankfurt, IMEX Las Vegas, IBTM Barcelona and more will play a crucial role. “India’s presence at these shows creates interest in India amongst the global buyers looking for new destinations with unique offerings,” added Tiwari.
Proposing other key measures, he listed them as follows:
- Release of advertisements in International medical /academic journals (New England Journal, The Lancet, The Journal of the American Medical Association and MICE publications
- Mega MICE Events “iMICE” (Incredible MICE) planned each year with ICPB to attract 1000 international corporates
- Welcome dinner/ cultural program to be hosted by MoT for international delegates visiting international conferences
- Ministry’s support in venues site inspection, offering international air tickets, accommodation for the site inspection team
- Ministry’s support in organising fam tours for conference planners
- Dedicated MDA for MICE operators for targeted global markets
- Export Status for MICE sub-sector
- Formal Skilling Fund for developing MICE talent and graduates.
- GST rating of 0 for forex earning MICE events
- City Convention Bureau across the country to be given MICE Export support
Echoing a similar thought, Alapati added that there is a need to create awareness and positive perception and joint efforts are required under the public-private partnership space. This, according to him, can be done by conducting and facilitating familiarisation Trips, outreach programmes and roadshows aided by the support from the Indian Mission office overseas, an Assistance program for Exhibition and Convention promotion and more.
Reflecting upon the potential of MICE in India, Dayya shared that Indian cities now have the golden ticket to chance upon ways to develop and guide the city’s tourism as per international standards.
“India is continuously identifying cities that can prove to be top picks to further develop and establish themselves as MICE destinations. Hyderabad, the pioneer of being established as a one-of-a-kind MICE destination through the Hyderabad Convention Visitors Bureau (HCVB) is pushing for International Associations along with International Convention Bureaus and Professional Conference Organisers to bring back large format Conventions to the city of pearls,” highlighted Dayya.
“While most of the tier I cities are ready to attend to all conferencing needs whilst providing best-in-class facilities, many other cities are being developed considering MICE important in building the economy,” he stressed.
The sprouting and thriving MICE Indian cities
As mentioned in the ICCA destination ranking report, there are 7 cities in the top 475 cities listed by the association, which include New Delhi (75th Rank ), Hyderabad (159th Rank), Bengaluru (203rd Rank), Mumbai(203rd Rank), Chennai (210th Rank), Goa (307th Rank) and Ahmedabad (424th Rank).
Alapati further sheds light on the six cities identified by the Ministry of Tourism in June 2021 that are prioritised for the MICE developments. This includes Agra, Udaipur, Pune, Thiruvananthapuram, Varanasi and Bhubaneshwar.
Tiwari shared that apart from Delhi being a pioneer in the MICE business, the other emerging choices are Jaipur, Agra, Khajuraho, Indore, Varanasi, Bhubaneshwar, Raipur, Ahmedabad, Guwahati and Cochin.
Believing that India is yet to reach that level of being known for top MICE destinations on a global level, Kundu stressed that “there is nothing like a top MICE destination in India yet if we talk concerning incoming foreign MICE business.” He adds that it is all ad hoc and the incoming business is yet to take off post pandemic. However, as far as India’s corporate MICE is concerned, Kundu shared that every city, every location and every hotel/resort is seeing a big spike in MICE numbers, asserted Kundu.
Enhancing air connectivity, a crucial aspect
Speaking at the National Tourism Awards held in the capital on September 27, 2022, Secretary Tourism Arvind Singh highlighted the importance of the upcoming G20 presidency in New Delhi, scheduled from January 2023 to September 23. Singh said that this summit, where around 215 meetings will be held in 55 locations across India, will be a major tool in positioning and projecting the country as an important destination for the rest of the world.
Each of these meetings will witness a large number of spectators from all around the world. And on that note, it is deemed important that the incoming visitors should be able to experience an exceptional India, a country with the utmost facilities and diversity as well as that is easily accessible.
A statement released by the ministry highlighted that during the G20 summit, the government plans to bring in necessary interventions which include visa reforms, ease of travel, traveller-friendly immigration facilities at airports and openness to international travel.
“The need of the hour is to get stronger connectivity, outreach, provide learning mechanism to upskill more people, adhere to the needs of local organisations in a manner that empowers them to be able to host & aid to such gatherings, strategise the layout of the ecosystem and identify the right set of circumstances to further promote tourism in a focused manner. A thorough understanding of global standards with a customer-centric approach will further make it feasible to cater to the needs of an ideal traveller,” highlighted Dayya.
On a similar note, Kundu outlined that India has to enhance its airline networks and focus more on an open sky policy to enable more airlines to come to India which eventually would also enable Indian carriers to fly overseas.
“Our last mile connectivity is a huge issue and is a big obstacle in promoting incoming MICE. We have to become more creative in our approach of promoting MICE globally; the 3 C’s are a must if we have to make our country count amongst the giants,” he shared.
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