In the recent years, the Ministry of Tourism, Government of India along with majority of the State Tourism boards have been working hard to put India on the global MICE map. Private players have been successful in developing Meetings, Incentives, Conferences, and Exhibitions (MICE) infrastructure across major cities in India. Cities like Hyderabad, Mumbai, Delhi, Kochi, Ahmedabad, etc have been aiming to be world-class MICE destinations and have been host to various international and domestic events over the years.
The MICE industry has been the worst hit with virtually zero business due to the pandemic. Many of the Indian city-hotels thrive on the corporate and MICE business, which has been cut off. The Government has been taking various steps towards unlocking and reviving industries and businesses across the nation. But, social distancing norm which is mandatory for the current time is playing a major spoilsport for the MICE industry where large gatherings and face-to-face engagement drive the business.
MICE and convention facilities across the nation have witnessed a huge revenue loss with either events getting cancelled or postponed. “Proximity being the feeder of the infamous virus, large meetings, and huge gatherings have been put a hold on by most countries. Entertainment, sports, trade shows, and exhibitions, are already facing challenges and will continue to do so until there is a vaccine in place which has no tentative timeline on being devised as of yet,” Nagesh Chawla, Cluster General Manager, Renaissance Mumbai & Lakeside Chalet – Mumbai, Marriott Executive Apartments, said.
Players of the sector also feel that the year 2020 is over for the MICE business, barring a few smaller events and weddings which may happen during the end of the year. “The global pandemic of COVID-19 has permanently changed the MICE and events industry. The world is fighting the novel coronavirus, and we cannot dismiss the fact that all the industries across the globe have been adversely impacted. At HITEX, we have seen over 60 per cent impact in terms of events being postponed or cancelled. So far, big impact is seen between March and October of 2020. We hope to see restrictions being relaxed by end of Q2 2020, however we do not expect to see increase in the volume till the time vaccine is developed and available in the market for everyone. If the status quo continues, it will be a huge challenge and we will have to get creative and come up with ideas to be future-ready,” Priyanka Reddyar, Head – Venue Sales, HITEX said.
On the flipside, many events which has been postponed will be deferred revenue for the venues. Also, with a few relaxations in place, leaner weddings are the new focus for majority of the venues.
Speaking about the development, Manish Dayya, General Manager – Novotel Hyderabad Convention Centre and Hyderabad International Convention Centre, said, “Since the onset of the pandemic, thousands of events have been cancelled all over the world and waking up to the news of cancellations or postponements has become the new normal since then and the story for us hasn’t been very different with a substantial number of events being cancelled. However, being one of the largest state-of-the-art purpose built Convention Centre in Asia; many loyal patrons hosting their annual events including International & National Associations have come forward and sought alternate dates for their events and a few have been postponed from 2020 to now in 2021 and stretching up to 2023. In the unlock phase since there has been relaxation on organising/hosting wedding and wedding related events with restrictions on the number of attendees we have been hosting a substantial number of these events at the complex.”
Some of the state governments have taken an initiative to support the industry by introducing various measures, with Kerala being one of the first states to announce a stimulus package. “The pandemic has indeed brought down the MICE business drastically. We have received cancellations for future months across segments, with number of queries declining as well. On the positive side, Kerala Tourism Minister Kadakampally Surendran has announced a stimulus package for promoting events in the state, MICE tourism and destination weddings by roadshow promotions and state-run marketing. The tourism department is also planning to launch campaign to promote ‘Short-Haul Tours’ later in the year which will help revive the tourism industry in the state by encouraging travelers from within Kerala,” Rashmi Kamboj, Cluster Director of Convention Sales at Grand Hyatt Kochi Bolgatty and Hyatt Regency Thrissur, said.
MICE business has been a volume game for majority of the players. With all the restrictions in place, the scale has drastically reduced, also there has been an increase the operational costs due to new protocols.
“I still believe that the MICE business will pick up pace and will remain a profitable business in the long term as it was before the Covid era. However; to sail through these difficult times the hospitality industry/Convention Centres will have to rethink the wheel to make sure that all the spaces available will be utilised in the most productive way to make up for the slump in the business. We at NHCC and HICC have also explored multiple business opportunities including offering the large space that is available to us at HICC by tying up with Proppro Online who specialize in the Co-Working spaces segment to offer the space at HICC as co-working space for a short term lease of 6 to 12 months and we have seen a positive sentiment in the market for this offer,” Dayya explained.
Majority of the players foresee hybrid models taking place of physical events at least in the short to mid-term. The meetings business has now turned majorly online. “We all agree that this pandemic has definitely pushed all of us to change the way we behave and perceive things. Similarly, businesses from different domains were pushed to adapt new ways to ensure business continuity with recommended safety measures. One of the majorly adapted methods across different domains is digitalisation. Live streaming and e-meetings could be the way forward for conventions, however this method might not hold good for exhibition industry. Exhibitions are tactile in nature and offer opportunities which cannot be experienced electronically and hence we should explore hybrid ways to cater our customers’ basis their preference,” Reddyar said.
The Government and the state tourism boards are now looking to restart and develop the domestic tourism market. A lot of the MICE players are relying on the local and domestic players to organize smaller events. “For the rest of 2020, India’s convention business may heavily rely on the local and domestic markets and move towards smaller regional meetings as opposed to larger national conferences. Large scale domestic conferences are estimated to take longer to recover, and organizers are now moving towards hybrid and virtual meeting solutions. But there are also a substantial number of enquiries that are held back as people wait to understand how multiple meetings and events can be held safely. Looking into the future, large format new and unplaced conventions, both domestic and international may take until mid-2022 to start reviving with confidence. For India, the immediate source of new international association meetings (apart from those already on the books) and exhibitions is largely expected to remain within Asia Pacific. Small meetings and non-residential weddings are the current trend and is likely to continue for another year or so,” Kamboj added.
MICE and convention facilities are now gearing up and adapting digital and technology driven solutions. Players believe that despite a lull period, business will be back to normal once there are more relaxations and confidence in the customers. “Whilst we face innumerable challenges, there has been immense development on the innovative and digital front during this entire lockdown, with figuring out alternates and devising new strategies and ideas to comply with the new normal, keeping in mind the government regulations and guidelines. There have been new developments in the Events and F&B domain in the hospitality industry with many things becoming contact-less and digital. Virtual tours are being preferred for Site Inspections rather than personal visits for the show around. I strongly believe that the industry can get closer to recovery, with the measures and strategies followed right now. While gaining confidence of our guests is going to be a slow process, we are accepting that the recovery will be slow, however, are leaving no stone unturned in the meanwhile to ensure maximum recovery and confidence build up,” Chawla said.
Commenting on the future of the business, Kamboj added, “Profitability would be impacted in the short term, keeping in mind the predictions for future travel and physical meetings. Hotels and venues are reinventing their business models and develop innovative and new revenue streams. Focus is likely to shift to restaurants, small corporate meetings, weddings and social events. Alternate revenue streams such as relevant meeting technology, outdoor catering, customized away-from-office workspaces, laundry packages etc., are coming into the forefront.”
Weddings will be the short-term focus of most of the facilities, with hopes to see the domestic and local MICE in mid-term. “In the short term the trend that we see right now is that we have received many Wedding and Wedding related queries and already hosted a sizable number based on the current demand and auspicious dates. Since these are the only events permitted as of now and in the mid-term we see that there may be some relaxations in organizing small social gathering beyond weddings and meetings too with similar restrictions. In the longer term the meetings and events business will definitely pick up pace as the international as well as domestic travel restriction start to ease a bit with revised ground rules in place that will need to be adhered in line with the new normal,” Dayya said.
