Organised by the India Convention Promotion Bureau (ICPB), the 12th Conventions India Conclave (CIC) is set to be hosted in Kochi, Kerala from Aug 29-31, 2019. During this year’s convention, the association is set to promote sustainability in the MICE business in India.
Speaking about the convention, Chander Mansharamani, Vice Chairman, ICPB said, “This year the theme of the Conclave is “Mapping the Sustainable MICE Future of India”. The focus area during the Conclave will be aiming to be top ten meeting destinations in the World by 2023. We have as of now in total 85 Domestic and 28 International and quite hopeful of getting 100 domestic and 30 international buyers. The above figures are keeping in view of us being very selective in selection of buyers. On the exhibition front, we are expecting a record number of exhibitors. We already have 66 confirmed booths and target is to get 75 booths. We are very confident of achieving our target.”
MICE segment of the industry offers a huge growth opportunity for Indian tourism. Currently, India has been ranked 28th in the list of global meeting markets. “MICE business in India is poised to grow, buoyed by the recent initiative by the Ministry of Tourism because of the rising economic importance of the region. India’s sterling performance in areas of IT, biotechnology and pharma have made it economic hot spot. MICE is the only segment which has shown countries growth of 12 – 15 per cent year after year. India has ranked 28th position in the recent list of global meeting market published by ICCA rankings Worldwide and 7th position in the Asia Pacific Region, which is an encouraging trend for the Indian Convention Industry.”
Pinarayi Vijayan, Chief Minister of Kerala is expected to be the Chief Guest and CEO of ICCA is set to be the keynote speaker for the Convention.
“Having CEO of ICCA as a Keynote Speaker will definitely give us the insight of international convention industry and their marketing strategy. The Minister of Tourism, Kerala has confirmed his participation and the Chief Minister of Kerala is expected to be the Chief Guest. We have lot of other exciting activities also. We also have a Boat Race on 29th afternoon, a traditional race using canoe boats which has a history from Kingship period. The other activity which is our regular feature is Green Walk/Fitness challenge/Ayurvedic discourse and Golf Tournament. We will also be opening our second State Chapter on the lines of Kolkata Chapter,” he revealed.
Convention industry in India faces various challenges including fierce competition by the neighbouring nations and other marketing issues. “The challenges we face in the Convention Industry will be discussing during Convention is how ICPB as a frontal marketing organization of the Ministry of Tourism can market India as a preferred Convention destination. Apart from the marketing, the other challenge is to compete with other countries especially with neighbouring countries as most of them have a provision to underwrite the bid support and financial assistance for Conference,” Mansharamani further said.
