HEENA MAHAJAN – New Delhi
The joint official press conference by Convention India Conclave (CIC) and IT&CM in Greater Noida, saw the presence of Martin Sirk, CEO of International Congress and Convention Association (ICCA); Chander Mansharamani, vice chairman of India Convention Promotion Bureau (ICPB) and Darren Ng, managing director of TTG Asia Media. In his keynote address Sirk stated, “There is a lot happening in the international MICE space. India needs to develop the same competitiveness and gear up to explore the opportunities available.” He stressed on the fact that the stakeholders need to leverage the power of the destinations available here, develop the services and technology, and efficiently use the human resources to.
Chander Mansharamani gave an introduction to ICBP, the initiatives taken so far and the future plans. He said, “The ministry of Tourism is aware of the opportunity in MICE tourism and has taken a number of initiatives to make India a preferred MICE destination.” He informed there are plans to form an agency that will bid on the international platform, and also a research body that can educate on the impact of holding such events in India. He accepted that there are many problems, ranging from lack of budget to human resource issues to absence of professional training. ICPB has come up with the Market Development Assistance (MDA) scheme that will educate organisers and state governments. Addressing the subject of Indian visa application process, he said, “The government has taken many proactive steps to make it easier for visitors from many countries to obtain visa on arrival. These changes will be put into effect very soon.” Apart from the single window clearance, there are also other areas that are being looked into.
Ng stated that the collaboration between TTG Events and ICPB showed great promise as the 7th CIC opened to a turnout of over 300 IT&CM India and CIC delegates.
