MICE Destinations in India

Introduction:-
Similar to some of the Western nations like USA, UK, Germany, France, Italy, Netherland, Spain , Turkey and some eastern countries such as China, Singapore, Hong Kong, Japan, Korea, Taiwan and Thailand, of late India has also emerged as a MICE destination in South-Asia.

MICE is a new form of tourism that includes travel and promotional budgets. MICE stands for Meetings, Incentives, Conferences and Exhibitions or Events. MICE can also be defined as a business tourism. According ICCA (International Congress and Convention Association), India has a great potential to capture the Asian MICE segment, as 69% of the MICE meetings are held in city hotels and 21% are held in resorts and India has large number of both resorts and hotels. Not only inbound MICE segment that is growing at a rate of 15 to 20% annually, the Indian outbound MICE segment has also increased very speedily due to the increase in exports.

Indian Convention & Promotion Bureau (ICPB), focused on Conference, Meetings and Incentive industry of India, is also promoting India as an emerging MICE destination.

Criteria To Be A MICE Destination
With the gradual development in economy and industry, India has become an ideal destination for MICE tourism in India. Many metropolitan cities of India serves as a MICE destinations because they have very good infrastructure such as big Convention Centres, Conferences and Banquet Halls, Exhibition Centres, Auditoriums and stadiums for hosting opening/ closing ceremonies and other events. Beside them, these cities also have good number of 5-star and 4-star hotels for accommodation, restaurants, bars, recreational activities like Golf course, Yoga and Ayurveda centre, Discotheque, Health club with spa facilities and easy accessibility in terms of domestic and international flights, so that the people who comes to India for business purpose, could perform their job while enjoying pleasure.

MICE Venues In India:
India is a very beautiful land which is dotted with various exotic locations that can be combined with International business trips. India has some technically sound and luxurious MICE venues such as

New Delhi:
New Delhi, the nation capital is the most sought after MICE destination of India. This is one of the famed Indian city that is embellished with ancient monuments, glitzy shopping malls, and other alluring places that makes it a wonderful place for business meetings and conferences. Some of the luxurious hotels of Delhi which are renowned to host meetings and conventions on the international scale for many years. For instance, The Ashoka hotel, Taj Palace, Maurya Sheraton, Le Meridian have excellent convention facilities. Habitat World Convention Centre, Vigyan Bhawan, are also known to host big events, seminars etc.

Mumbai:
Mumbai, the commercial capital of India is one of the best MICE venue in India. Every year thousands of business delegates visit this city to attend high profile conferences, conventions, seminars and meetings. It has no dearth of luxurious 5-star hotel and 4 star hotels that hold conferances, conventions and meetings. Centre Point, Renaissance Hotel and Convention Center in Mumbai are some world known places that are ideal for the business conferences, conventions etc. Beside business trips, guests can explore and enjoy many wonderful places and excitings things while their stay in Mumbai.

Hyderabad:
Hyderabad, the Information Technology city of India is also an emerging MICE destination of India. Beside the numerous heritage monuments, Hyderabad has some sophisticated venue. One of the most popular business venue of Hyderabad is Hyderabad International Convention Centre (HICC). This building is one of the favorite site for conventions, seminars and meetings. It has an capacity to accommodate 5000 people for convention, 500 for seminar and 50 for meeting. This venue has already hosted number of prestigious international and national conferences.

Noida:
Noida, a nearby city to New Delhi, is fast growing business city of India. It has many exhibitions, conferences, seminars and banquet halls. Some of the excellent venue for conferences and conventions in Noida are Delhi International Expo Centre which hold B2B and B2C exhibitions, conferences, seminars and banquets. India Expo Centre built in Greater Noida is another place that offers an ideal venue for product launches, seminars, dealer meets, exhibitions and corporate functions. There is an golf course situated at the vicinity of the centre provides a refreshing escape to the guests from the environment of meeting and conferences.

Agra:
Agra famed for the symbol of “epitome of love”, Taj Mahal has some excellent venues to hold conferences, conventions and meetings. It is a fine city that is appropriate for both heritage and business tour. The Jaypee Palace Hotel and Convention Centre are the best place to hold conferences, conventions and meetings. Till date they have hosted numerous national and international gatherings.

Beside them some more Indian cities that are known as excellent MICE destinations are Kolkata:Chennai, Cochin, Jaipur etc.