“The travel and the tourism industry, it’s just a huge part of our economy.”
-Karen Hughes
What is the first thing that comes to your mind when you hear the word MICE? Surely, Geronimo Stilton. But in the economics sphere, it has a wider meaning. What exactly does MICE entail? Let’s have a closer look at the MICE industry.
MICE is the acronym for Meetings, Incentives, Conferences and Exhibitions, which brings together groups of professionals through planning, exhibitions, conferences, seminars and other events. It is also referred to as Business Tourism or Business Events. This industry originated in Europe during the 19th century and has been growing ever since. It is a key segment of the tourism and hospitality industry.
COMPONENTS OF MICE
- MEETINGS
Meetings are single-day events. These can be small group meetings or large group meetings. Some examples of meetings that take place are: Board meetings, Briefings and Shareholders meetings.
- INCENTIVES
Incentive travels are travels to motivate and reward the staff members, partners or stakeholders. This type of travel is a valuable investment for any company as it would stimulate people to work harder and increase production.
- CONFERENCES
Conferences, unlike meetings, last more than just a day. Conferences are mainly held to find solutions to business or industry challenges. It includes panels, presentations, group discussions, lectures, speeches, etc.
- EXHIBITIONS
Exhibitions are like trade fares or trade shows where businesses showcase their products or services. These have worldwide networking and new businesses can pitch their products in these exhibitions.
Some well-known MICE destinations and events are: Singapore International Jewelry Expo, ASEAN Tourism Forum, MICE Malta: Visit Malta Incentives and Meetings and Women Deliver Conference 2023 in Rwanda.
The MICE industry is a significant contributor to the national economy. It gives a boost to the economy in the form of income generation through employment opportunities in the hospitality service-providing sector like accommodation, food and beverages, entertainment and transportation. Other than these, it also creates new business opportunities, provides training, skill up-gradation, etc. MICE is a year-round business and hence is beneficial during the offsetting seasons for airlines, hotels, travel agencies and other leisure-related tourism. Meetings and conventions add value in terms of delegating expenditure to a country and promoting international relations. MICE travellers spend more money as compared to leisure travellers and at times, become leisure travellers too, by extending their stay. MICE brings under its roof a host of products and services, physical infrastructure, organisers and peripheral subcontractors are the three main industry stakeholders. The financial benefits brought in by meetings to a destination put an end to the seasonal nature of these destinations.
CHALLENGES
The global market size of the MICE industry was USD 1066.97 million in 2021. It is now expected to rise at a CAGR of 7.41% and reach around USD 1638.54 million in 2027. This is one of the fastest-growing industries and contributes to the world economy. This is because of the increasing demand for the following applications around the world: Hospitality, Transportation, Retail, Academic and Entertainment
But India’s share in the global market is less than 1% even though it is one of the fastest growing economies. India was ranked 28th in 2019 by International Congress and Convention Association which dropped down by 9 positions to 37th rank in the year 2022. India has the potential to hold huge MICE events but it still lags behind the international standards. The reports add that there is “ a lack of focused approach to developing and promoting the MICE industry in the country and there is no national level policy on MICE”.
Many challenges are faced by India. The prime challenge is the lack of infrastructure. India does not provide adequate destinations and convention halls which provides opportunities to attract MICE business. With this, even the transportation facilities in India are also not insufficient due to non-standardized rates and fares. Some of the cities lack connectivity such as Pune. Many parts of India have poor hygiene and sanitation facilities.The prevalence of high taxation in India is another reason for India to lose its share in the global market. Also, the occurrence of the global recession and fall in the National Gross Domestic Product due to COVID-19 forced most businesses to cut down their extra costs of holding large-scale annual meetings and conferences. Instead, they kept these in their ventures and the space available. The fall in the National GDP and global recession also increased travel costs which in turn cut down inbound business travel across the country.
INITIATIVES TAKEN BY INDIA
MICE is a leading economic sector with a total contribution of 9.8 per cent to the global GDP and represents 7 per cent of the world’s total exports in India. This sector is growing at the rate of nearly 20 per cent per year. India is currently cementing the cracks to become an attractive destination for the MICE industry and stand next to the global MICE giants. Some of the emerging cities for this as identified and published by FICCI-MRRS in 2016 are Delhi-NCR, Mumbai, Chennai, Goa, Varanasi, Udaipur, Surat, Pune, and many more.
The Ministry of Tourism has identified the importance of the MICE industry and has prepared a roadmap to achieve its aim of making India an attractive location for MICE Tourism. The Bureau participates in international events and conferences. MICE Promotion Bureau with industry representation has been set up at the National as well as at the Destination level. Promotion of the MICE segment through Trade Fairs and focused Road Shows has also been taken up. International Convention Organizers are to be invited for familiarisation trips to India. The Ministry has also decided to simplify the Conference Visa regime and introduce an E-Tourist visa to provide single window clearance for organising meetings and conferences. Developing the Mega Convention Cities in each of the 5 regions of India is another aim to cater to small and medium convention markets.
The G20 summit that took place on 9th and 10th September 2023 in New Delhi was the 18th meeting of the G20. This made a huge contribution to the MICE industry. Bharat-Mandapam-Conventional-Centre, Pragati Maidan was specially built for these meetings. This summit gave an enormous blast to the tourism sector. Also, the ICC Cricket World Cup 2023 is another event that is going to give an extensive boost to the Indian economy.
CONCLUSION
India is a country with profuse cultures and traditions which is one of the things that makes it an attractive tourist destination. The hospitality sector of India is huge and is slowly growing and expanding its operations to foreign countries too. The latest steps taken by the government show that India understands the value of the MICE industry and its contribution to the economy. India is one of the fastest-growing economies in the world. There are many challenges but these can be unravelled with the support of the government. India has enormous potential, it is just the need to realise it and act on it to achieve its aim to make India one of the key destinations for the MICE events.
ECONOX 