SUDIPTA DEV – Mumbai
Pullmantur Cruises is a Spanish cruise company that has a strong focus on the MICE segment. Griffon is the GSA of the company in India and has since mid of 2012 started actively launching this product in the Indian market. “The response has been good. We’ve had a lot of FITs and group movements,” said Vivek Jain, MD, Griffon.
Pullmantur Cruises have all facilities for MICE, including meeting rooms. The auditorium can accommodate 800-900 passengers. “The best part is that it is an all-inclusive system. Even all alcoholic and non-alcoholic drinks are included, which is important in MICE. Of course we do all Indian meals, including vegetarian meals. There are also interesting entertainment options,” mentioned Jain. For MICE groups, activities like team building programmes, Bollywood music shows, etc, can be organised.
The itinerary ranges from Barcelona to Barcelona and Rome to Rome (both for seven nights). Further, MICE groups can be split e.g. four nights Barcelona to Rome for a group of dealers and four nights from Rome to Barcelona for a different group of dealers from another region. “Many companies want to do this area wise. The company people can stay on board for seven nights but the dealers can come in two batches,” added Jain.
The rates are attractive, asserted Jain. “If we are looking at a group of 300-400 passengers we can do very good rates. They are all depended upon seasonality and the load factor. Compared to land we’ll be far cheaper. Any European country you compare, my seven-nights on the ship will be much cheaper than seven-nights in a hotel. And the experience will be greater as everybody will be together. We can even block one whole restaurant for a group,” he stated, adding that, it is value for money, if alcohol is bought on the ship it becomes expensive so it is difficult for the organiser to budget the same. Griffon has also received a few enquiries for weddings on these ships.
The company is also the representative of Louis Cruises (mostly FITs for Greek Islands) and ferry cruises of St Peter Line (in the Baltics). Jain stated that the latter is also a good option for MICE as the groups can either do a four nights cruise from Helsinki to Tallin and St Petersburg (without visa for Russia) or go straight to St Petersburg, stay for two nights in the city and return to Helsinki (also without visa for Russia). Only multiple entry Schengen visa is needed. The capacity in St Peter Line ships is for 2000 passengers.
Jain pointed out the European cruises are more high-end in service and experience with much beautiful destinations and pricing-wise as cheap as the ones in the East. “The only difference is one has to pay Rs 10,000-15,000 extra for the airfare. For instance, a promotion recently included companion free and child free option. So for the price of one, four people can go (two adults and two children),” he said.
