SOME Indian exhibitors at the 7th Conventions India Conclave yesterday reported a year-on-year increase in inbound meetings, incentives and conferences brought on by the depreciating Indian rupee, increased financial assistance from the Government of India and better bidding efforts from PCOs looking to bring MICE business to India.
A T Seasons & Vacations Travel India managing director, Amaresh Tiwari, said he was targeting a 30 per cent year-on-year growth for meeting and incentive business this year, with new clients coming in mainly from South America.
He said: “We are getting meetings, incentives and leisure business from countries we never had before due to distance and high airfares, such as Argentina, Mexico, Brazil and Peru.”
A T Seasons & Vacations Travel has also seen more meetings and incentives from Mauritius, Malaysia, Russia and the UK heading mostly to the Golden Triangle cities of Delhi, Agra and Jaipur, as well as Mumbai, Bengaluru, Hyderabad and Chennai.
“India has become more attractive due to the weaker Indian rupee, better bidding efforts and financial assistance from the government to members of the India Convention Promotion Bureau for bidding of international MICE events,” said Tiwari, adding that the rupee had depreciated by about 15-16 per cent against the greenback over the last six months.
With greater buying power in India, the company’s deputy manager-inbound, Shiv Singh Kandari, noted that more clients were including event add-ons such as cultural shows and excursions, and that pre- and post-show tour attendance were on the rise too.
Read more in TTG Show Daily – IT&CM India 2012
