Brisk business for India

Tradeshow growth is taking the lead while new source markets are turning their attention to the South Asian destination. By Rohit Kaul

India’s inbound MICE players are reporting stronger business this year, fuelled by the Indian government’s pursuit of global investors and improvements in tourism hardware.

Swadesh Kumar, vice chairman of the India Convention and Promotion Bureau (ICPB), told TTGmice that India’s inbound MICE business has recorded a year-on-year growth of eight to 10 per cent in 2015.

“The Indian economy is doing well and the new government has been making efforts to attract global investment, and that augurs well for the MICE industry,” Kumar explained. “In fact, the conference and exhibition market is surpassing the incentive travel movement.”

The country’s calendar of conventions and exhibitions appear busy, with major trade events like Medical Fair India, International Engineering & Technology Fair, 34^th India International Trade Fair, and 29^th International Conference on Frontiers in Materials Processing, Applications, Research & Technology heading its way this year.

Business seems equally brisk for India’s convention and exhibition sector next year too. ASME 2015 India International Oil & Gas Pipeline Conference, 6^th World Congress on Biotechnology, 3^rd International Conference and Exhibition on Pharmacognosy & Natural Products, and the annual conference of the International Federation for Theatre Research are some of the events already in the bag.

Prashant Narayan, COO and head of Leisure Travel Inbound Business, Thomas Cook India, opined that a “comparative cost advantage, developing infrastructural facilities, presence of attractive stay options, and aviation upgrades have resulted in more countries viewing India as a favourable MICE option”.

Narayan noted that besides the traditional source markets, newer ones like China, South Korea and Eastern Europe are emerging.

“China has been one of the fastest growing inbound markets for us in recent years. For the coming inbound season, our internal research and analysis team has revealed that the number of tourists from China to India is expected to rise by approximately 20 per cent,” he added.

International MICE interest is spread across India’s major cities like New Delhi, Mumbai and Hyderabad, as well as smaller ones like Jaipur.

“Jaipur now boasts of many hotels with good venues and facilities for conferences and conventions, and that has improved its position as an international MICE destination,” said Lalit Chadha, director-business development, MCI Management India.

“Its proximity to New Delhi is also an advantage.”

The new Jaipur Exhibition & Convention Centre (JECC) is said to have given the city’s MICE sector a shot in the arm. Said to be the largest exhibition and convention facility in South Asia, JECC occupies over 42 acres and offers two exhibition halls with a combined, column-free space of 20,000m² and an open exhibition area of 10,000m², among other facilities. It hosted the India Stone Mart 2015 in January.

Meanwhile, the industry is looking forward to the finalisation of the National Tourism Policy 2015 by India’s ministry of tourism. MICE is identified as one of the key pillars in the policy, and there are plans to form a National MICE Promotion Bureau with industry representatives that will work closely with state tourism boards to secure international MICE business for destinations with good events infrastructure.

“The ITB World Travel Trends Report 2014/2015 states that the global MICE segment has a 54 per cent market share, overtaking the traditional business travel segment,” said Lalit Panwar, secretary, ministry of tourism, India. “We understand that the ministry of tourism’s effort in attracting big conventions to India need to be revisited, moving from the current model of supporting individual operators to generate business to a more result oriented framework.”

Ranjan Kumar Mishra, managing director of Eastern Voyage, told the magazine that the creation “of a body that can bid for international conferences and events” has been the industry’s “long standing demand”.

“The National Tourism Policy 2015 has also proposed (the establishment of a) fund with contribution from state governments and participating private players, that will be utilised to secure business throughout the year,” said Mishra.

Lamenting about the lack of funding, especially for ICPB, Chander Mansharamani, managing director, Alpcord Network Travel & Conferences, said: “The industry has been demanding financial support to be extended to ICPB which was formed to promote MICE business. However, ICPB’s role has been more or less restricted as a trade association (and it did not) bid for international association business.”

The soon-to-be-announced National Tourism Policy 2015 has also proposed the provision of a single window clearance for organising meetings and conventions in India, besides simplifying the conference visa process. If implemented, this will be an improvement on the government’s move last year to offer electronic tourist visa to nationals of 74 countries.

“Single window clearance for meetings and conventions will speed up process and signal a positive image of India as a friendly MICE destination. The e-tourist visa scheme extended to conference delegates will help to boost India’s position as a global MICE destination,” said ICPB’s Kumar.