SUDIPTA DEV – Mumbai
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| Chander Mansharamani |
India Convention Promotion Bureau (ICPB) recently launched its Vision Document as a long-term strategy to position India as a preferred MICE destination in the world. The Vision Document takes into account the time span till 2015. “There is no MICE policy by the government of India. We are keeping this as a base document for the policy in the future,” said Chander Mansharamani, vice-chairman, ICPB.
ICPB is celebrating 25 years of its existence on May 16, 2013. “We are hopeful that the government comes out with a MICE policy by then,” stated Mansharamani. ICPB is in the process of creating awareness regarding the financial benefits a city can have when it holds conferences. Roadshows have been planned in a few states that have a lot potential – Mumbai (Maharashtra), Kochi (Kerala), Chennai (Tamil Nadu) and Delhi NCR. “We have chosen these states for roadshows. We will not only involve the professional conference organisers (PCOs) but the state governments also. We will make the state governments aware of the benefits for the city. All these cities will be covered in the first week of April. The idea is to complete these activities before May 16, 2013. We are making efforts for the MICE policy by then,” stated Mansharamani, remembering to add that a few state governments are well aware of the financial advantages of MICE activities.
The key features of the Vision Document include creating awareness among Indian conference organisers, PCOs to bid for international conferences and making the world aware that India can hold big international conferences. “We need to go to international roadshows to show the world what India is capable of,” stated Mansharamani.
MICE training programme is an important part of the agenda. As hotel management institutes do not have focused training on MICE, ICPB is trying to work with them to add one/ two modules on the subject.
