Destination Mice

A three-city roadshow cum travel mart organised by Tourism Malaysia , Malaysian Airlines and feBusiness Traveller provided an insight into the enormous potential of MICE

(left to right) P Manoharan, director - India, Tourism Malaysia; M Shaifuddin Kamaruddin, area manager, West India, Malaysia Airlines; Mirza Mohammad Taiyab Beg, deputy director general, Tourism Malaysia; Zamberi B Abdul Aziz, director - immigration, Malaysia and Sheldon Santwan, editor, Hospitality Group - Business Publications Division, Indian Express Group at the Destination MICE roadshow

MICE (Meetings Incentives Conventions and Exhibitions) is a significant part of Indian business travel. Top Indian companies spend approximately Rs three crore for MICE annually and almost 70 per cent of Indian companies envisage an increase in travel expenditure. MICE is therefore big business and getting bigger still.

To give an insight into the bigger picture of MICE to the corporate world, feBusiness Traveller along with Tourism Malaysia and Malaysian Airlines organised the first ever MICE roadshow cum travel mart called Destination MICE in
the country in June. The three-city roadshow cum travel mart held at the ITC Maurya Sheraton (Delhi), Grand Hyatt (Mumbai) and Le Royal Meridien (Chennai) witnessed the launch of the new MICE campaign of Malaysia. Top travel and tour operators, MICE operatives and travel decision makers from the corporate world turned out in large numbers. They included representatives from major travel and tour operators like Thomas Cook, Cox and Kings, TCI, International Travel House, Raj Travels, JTB Travels, Kuoni, SOTC, Travel Express, and corporate travel managers, marketing heads, human resources development heads, administrative heads from business houses like Godrej, Wipro, Johnson & Johnson, Citibank, Dabur, ICICI, Zenith Computers, HCL , Ford, Cipla, Raymonds among others.

The roadshow was followed by livewire entertainment with cocktails and dinner where the guests mingled with the 20-strong Malaysian delegates.

In his presentation, MICE-The India Perspective, during the roadshow, Sheldon Santwan, editor, feBusiness Traveller, put down short haul destinations, great connectivity, good nightlife, state-of-the-art convention centres, an India-friendly outlook as the key MICE drivers. He said, “Companies with large promotional budgets are increasingly taking the MICE route. More international destinations will enter the fray as India flexes its MICE muscle and destinations in South East Asia will emerge as MICE superpowers of the future.”

Corporates and tour operators interacting with the representatives of Malaysian hotels and tour operators at the travel mart

According to him incentives were easily the most popular MICE segment followed by conventions, meetings and events. “The incentive component is believed to be as high as 80 per cent of the total MICE movement in India. It is largely driven by the FMCG and white goods sectors, while the convention and exhibition markets are driven by the logistics, communications, engineering, pharmaceutical, bio-medical and other service sectors," explained Santwan.

Many of the assembled guests from the corporate world agreed that incentive trips is slowly gaining in importance. Rambabu Venkata, assistant vice president, Refco-sify Securities India Pvt Ltd, felt that South East Asian countries are more cost effective for incentive trips. “Incentive trips are an important factor in motivating people, especially in the service departments,” opined Rambabu. Nimish Desai, general manager, marketing, Wimplast, part of Cello Group, felt that foreign trips as incentive offerings are the most popular today. He said, "While we organise incentive trips periodically for our sales/marketing teams and dealers, we have limited our conference/convention to just one per year and the budget for it is tight fisted."

Malaysia calling

Members of the Malaysian delegation explaining the various MICE offerings to visitors at the travel mart before the roadshow

Going abroad is slowly becoming the norm in MICE events. Sushil Wadhwa, managing director and CEO, Platinum Incentives & Events Pvt Ltd, a guest at the roadshow, said, “Most companies prefer South East Asian countries and Dubai for a conference/convention as the cost is just 10 to 12 per cent higher than organising one in India.”

Mirza Mohammad Taiyab Beg, deputy director general, Tourism Malaysia in his presentation illustrated how Malaysia is making waves in the Indian market. He revealed, “The Indian contribution for Malaysian MICE arrivals in the year 2001 was a paltry 7,351 of the total 1,43,513 arrivals. However, in the year 2003, these numbers grew to 18,608, a 153 per cent increase making India the eighth largest contributor to the total Malaysian MICE arrivals, ahead of UK and Germany. The launch of this campaign is to achieve our objective of making Malaysia the most preferred MICE destination in the South East Asian region. India will play a key role in this. Malaysia has distinctive advantages to offer to Indian corporates, like less travelling time, world-class facilities at affordable rates and an experience of hosting large international events."

During the roadshow, Tourism Malaysia along with their supporting partners (state tourism and local authorities, Malaysia External Trade Development Corporation (MATRADE), convention venue operators, members of the Malaysia Association of Hotels, professional conference organisers, exhibition contractors, destination management companies and the Malaysian Association of Tour and Travel Agents), offered special incentives to host MICE events in Malaysia. These included preferential airfares, special accommodation and transportation rates, dissemination of information collaterals, facilitation on custom and immigration clearances and discounted rates on various convention centres. Malaysia currently has 1,989 hotels supplying 143,300 rooms, many of which have adequate facilities to cater for meetings and conferences.

"This campaign highlights the viability and prospects for Indian corporates to link their MICE travel movement coinciding with the annual Malaysian international events, for example, shopping carnival, Formula 1, Colours of Malaysia among host of others," elucidated Beg.