India is undergoing a huge infrastructure transformation. A US$90bn project is currently underway in the country, which will develop an industrial zone spanning across six states between Delhi, the country’s political capital and Mumbai, the country’s business capital.
The Delhi-Mumbai Industrial Corridor covers an overall length of 1,483km and will create nine mega industrial zones, a high-speed freight line, three ports, six airports, a six-lane intersection-free expressway and a power plant.
Two large convention centres will also be built as part of the project. Consultancy services provider Aecom, which worked on the London Olympic Games and is working on the Brazil Olympics and the Doha World Cup, is designing the masterplan for the centres, one of which will be situated close to Delhi in Dwaraka and the other near Ahmedabad.
The new project was made possible with financial and technical aid from Japan and represents part of country’s bid to double employment potential, triple industrial output and quadruple exports from the region.
With these positive growth trends in the Indian economy and increasing competition in the manufacturing and services sectors, India presents a potentially lucrative market for the events industry. Reed Travel Exhibitions has recently announced it is to add an Indian edition to its stable of Incentives, Business Travel and Meetings (IBTM) exhibitions this year, where it sees potential. IBTM India will take place at the Grand Hyatt in Mumbai 12-14 September 2013.
“With a projected GDP growth of over eight per cent in the next five years, India is the world’s third largest economy,” says Portfolio Director for the IBTM Meetings and Events Portfolio at Reed Travel Exhibitions, Craig Moyes of his choice to launch in the country.
“There is also a strategic plan of commitment from the India Ministry of Tourism for the development of new convention centres and a significant number of global hotel chains are now focusing on new facilities and venues to support the MICE industry,” he adds.
IBTM India will provide an integrated platform for the MICE and business travel sectors to come together and transact business, share knowledge and network in the business and financial hub of Mumbai, according to Moyes. The event initially is expected to attract 100 MICE and business travel suppliers from international and Indian hotels and venues, national/state tourism boards, travel and destination management companies and airlines, along with other suppliers including technology and event management companies.
“The meetings and incentives market is possibly the most important segment of the travel industry today,” says President of motivation event association Site’s India Chapter, Anup Nair. “With positive growth trends in the Indian economy and the increasing competition in the manufacturing and services sectors, India presents a potentially lucrative market. This has brought many international corporations to India and a burgeoning work force that offers a huge market for motivational experiences.”
India’s offering
For meeting planners considering India for their next event, the possibilities are varied. The 284-year-old city of Jaipur, known as the Pink City of India, is an exotic location which has a number of festivals as commonplace throughout the year which meeting planners can tap into. These festivals include the Camel Festival in January and Elephant festival in March.
Jaipur has 158 hotels and 7,083 hotel bedrooms. The largest convention venue in the city is the B.M. Birla Auditorium and Convention Center, which has 3,600sqm of indoor event space and 4,200sqm of outdoor space. It also has conference space to accommodate up to 400 delegates.
Meanwhile, in close proximity to the seat of the government and the business district, the SMS Convention Centre has facilities for up to 400 delegates and its outdoor lawn Kesarbagh venue can host up to 1,000 delegates.
New Delhi, the energetic capital of a fast-transforming India offers meeting planners a mix of old and new. The ruins of the old city include the Mughal kings, who built the Red Fort in the now bustling old Delhi. Delhi’s Indira Gandhi International Airport is the busiest in India, attracting around 36m passengers in 2011 and the city’s convention venues attract high-level delegations.
India’s largest exhibition centre is housed in New Delhi. The Pragati Maidan is situated 3km from the city centre and offers 61,290sqm of event space as well as 10,000sqm of open display space. Thity minutes away, the Delhi International Expo Centre offers space for up to 5,000 delegates for a banquet and eight exhibition halls.
India’s commercial capital, Mumbai, offers all you would expect of a modern city destination. The Bombay Convention and Exhibition Centre is the city’s largest event space. The venue is 10 minutes from local airports and has 45,000sqm of event space.
Hotel venues in Mumbai include the 583-room Renaissance Mumbai Convention Centre Hotel, which has 17 meeting rooms spread across 23,255sqm and a grand ballroom which has 1,208sqm of event space with a seating capacity of 1,800. Other hotels with meeting facilities include the 245-room Orchid, Asia’s first certified eco-friendly five-star hotel, the 547-room Grand Hyatt and the 565-room Taj Mahal, with 11 meeting rooms.
Simon Mills, former Head of Business Visits and Events at VisitBritain was part of a business mission to Mumbai and Delhi in 2010 to encourage meeting planners from the country to bring their events to Britain. The mission used the five-star hotel at Nairam Point in Mumbai for its sales event.
“Service was good, if a little haphazard, the AV quality varied depending on the venue and I do remember the power going out once or twice in Delhi,” says Mills.
“Indian buyers were not great at responding to our invites before the event, so we didn’t have a true reflection of attendees until afterwards. I remember in Mumbai, we were expecting 80 or so attendees and ended up with nearer 150 over the course of the day. Traffic being what it is, we needed to provide a time range for buyers to meet as opposed to a strict session.
“Buyers seemed genuinely pleased to meet such well known venues and cities and Indian buyers were keen on city venues in the UK and had an interest in holding events at sporting venus, with the well-known Lords Cricket Ground and Old Trafford football stadium being mentioned,” he adds.
Hyderabad
The International Congress and Convention Association (ICCA) Congress, which was held in Hyderabad in India in 2010, was deemed by some as a turning point for India’s conference and meetings industry. Over 750 ICCA members from 85 countries attended the event at the Hyderabad International Convention Centre.
Martin Sirk, CEO of ICCA, noted: “I am certain the delegates will talk about the Congress for years to come, and it won’t be about visa hassles but about the professionalism and especially about the creativity that were on display in abundance And of course the warmth of welcome, courtesy, and smiling service.”
Philip Logan, Chair of the local host committee added: “Hosting the ICCA Congress was without a doubt the best thing that could have happened to the growing meetings industry of India.
“ICCA 2010 was a unique platform for global meetings professionals to experience India and network with their Indian colleagues, explore new business opportunities and establish long-standing relations to learn from India and for India to learn from them.”
Now could be as good a time as any to visit the country for your next meeting or event.
This was first published in the Issue 71/2013 of CMW. Any comments? Email cmw@mashmedia.net
