THE CURRENT 60-day re-entry gap imposed on multiple entry India visa holders may soon be a thing of the past, according to a statement issued by the Prime Minister’s Office on August 13.

The Ministry of Home Affairs is presently considering several options to rationalise the current visa regime, which is inhibitive for travellers to India. The Indian government is also planning to offer visa-on-arrival to 10 more countries.

The current re-entry restriction has been a bane for business travellers who have existing business interests or future investment plans in India, as frequent visits are impossible.

Amaresh Tiwari, A T Seasons & Vacations Travel managing director, said “a zero gap multiple entry visa would augment business travel immensely as an open visa regime would reflect the country’s openness to global investment and partnerships”.

Meanwhile, Chander Mansharamani, vice-chairman of the India Convention Promotion Bureau, told the Daily that the local MICE trade had successfully appealed to the government to institute a single-window clearance for conference attendees, and that the government would “announce the modalities shortly”.

Plan It! Meetings and Conferences associate vice president, Rajiv Pande, said having a single window for clearance would “change the scenario completely”.

“Foreign attendance will increase and business could double,” he added, noting that the number of international delegates per conference currently ranged from 10 to 200.

Once implemented, last-minute registrations by foreign participants can also be processed. Pande noted that visas were often hard to get for markets such as China, Taiwan, Sri Lanka, Pakistan and Bangladesh.

Sarab Jit Singh, managing director, Travelite (India), said: “Serious and drastic steps must be taken to remove the bottlenecks that are holding back the growth of India’s conventions industry. Permissions and approvals required for conference organisers must be simplified.”

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Additional reporting by: Grace Chiang

MICE specialists in Malaysia are looking forward to the launch of the Malaysia Convention & Exhibition Bureau’s (MyCEB) Twin Deal programme today, with many saying the incentives offered will help to alleviate the pressure on costs due to the depreciating Indian rupee.

Nantha Travel & Tours managing director, M Nantha Gopal, projected a 40 per cent drop in meeting and incentive business from India between September and December, and said that two groups had postponed their trips to Malaysia indefinitely as the overall package cost had exceeded their budgets.

Arokia Das Anthony, senior manager of Luxury Tours Malaysia, which had so far registered a 20 per cent dip in volume of MICE business from India this year, told the Daily that the incentives would go a long way towards improving the inbound MICE business from India to Malaysia.

He said: “For business that (has) materialised, companies have scaled back their packages to the bare minimum as budgets have also been reduced. Many companies used to have at least two gala dinners per event, but now it is just one and the rest of the meals are normal Indian dinners.”

First launched in China last September and subsequently rolled out in Taiwan, Hong Kong, South Korea, Australia, New Zealand and Europe, MyCEB general manager of sales & marketing, Ho Yoke Ping, said more than 11,260 delegates had benefited from the programme to date.

Targeting India-based corporate meeting and incentive planners who wish to bring their events to Malaysia, the two-pronged programme rewards both the client and the MICE planner.

To qualify, all bookings must be made between August 27 this year and June 30, 2013 for arrivals between October 1 this year and December 31 next year. MyCEB is looking to draw 10,000 Indian delegates through this programme.

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INDIAN MICE stakeholders, including state governments, the Ministry of Tourism, CVBs, PCOs/PEOs, convention venues, hotels, airports and other suppliers, are coming together to crystallise a guide that aims to raise the standards and success rates of convention bids.

The guide, which is expected to be finalised in two to three months’ time, will address areas such as professional accreditation of vendors as a means of quality assurance, funding for client inspections, and the establishment of local ambassadors who will lobby for hosting rights ahead of time.

The guide is also expected to help organisers cope with the changes in venue and accommodation costs that can set in between the time of the bid submission and the date of the convention, as many association events begin tendering for bids five to eight years in advance.

Monimita Sarkar, managing director of KW Conferences, pointed out that a convention bid was not merely a tender document, but “a business plan with projections into the future that are frozen in time as commercial commitments”.

“As 60 per cent of the cost of an event stems from the venue (and accommodation), factoring cost escalations other than increments in taxes will require participation by hotels and venue suppliers,” she said.

Shyam Nagpal, managing director of International Conferences & Exhibition Services, concurred, saying: “Hotel expenditure comprises the largest share of the total event cost. A minor escalation not factored in earlier can render a bid untenable. All stakeholders need to address the common areas of concern and draw up a blueprint for successful bidding.”

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MORE than 150 medical tourism players from across the globe will head to Thailand in September to meet and network with local health and wellness service providers, during a five-day fam trip aimed at promoting the country’s medical tourism scene.

Organised by the Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT), the Thailand Medical & Wellness Tourism Trade Familiarization will run from September 10 to 15, and kicks off with a one-day trade event at the Centara Grand at CentralWorld in Bangkok.

Fam trip participants will visit various Thai health and wellness facilities, meet the experts who run them, and try out services available on the local medical tourism market.

“Thailand has established itself as a global leader in medical tourism. People from all over the world put their trust in Thailand’s health and wellness providers, thanks to their internationally accredited medical facilities, advanced technologies, excellent service and affordability,” said TAT governor, Suraphon Svetasreni.

“This fam trip will help to increase momentum for the Kingdom’s medical tourism sector, reinforcing Thailand’s position as the world’s preferred destination for health and wellness holidays.”

Thai health authorities report that some 2.24 million foreigners visited the Kingdom for medical purposes last year, and the number is expected to swell to 2.53 million in 2012.

Last year, medical tourists contributed 98.7 billion baht (US$3.14 billion) to the nation’s coffers.

KERZNER International, operator of five-star resort brands One&Only and Atlantis, is expanding its sales and marketing presence in Asia with the appointment of Hong Kong- and Shanghai-based sales and marketing representatives, Infinite Luxury.

Infinite Luxury will focus on boosting market awareness and positioning of Kerzner’s One&Only, Atlantis and Mazagan brands in the region, implementing and executing sales strategies targeted at high-end leisure, business and incentive clients in markets such as China, Hong Kong and Singapore.

Scheduled to make its Chinese debut in 2014 with One&Only Sanya on Hainan Island, Kerzner is especially targeting the China market with this move.

Pointing out that at least 200 million Chinese were set to join the urban middle class by the end of the decade, and that Chinese outbound tourism was expected to grow by 17 per cent annually, Kerzner notes: “As the income of the middle Chinese economy continues to grow and private incomes increase, travelling abroad is now becoming a regular part of Chinese life.”

With renewed focus on the market, Kerzner said it was “thrilled to partner with Infinite Luxury Group to help us promote our destinations to Chinese travellers”.

SINGAPORE, once the doyen of Indian MICE planners and corporate firms, is fast losing its shine.

Despite the Singapore Tourism Board’s upbeat projections about this segment’s immediate prospects, event planners and PCOs are reporting fewer numbers from India to the city state, as costs – particularly from accommodation – continue to rise.

Rajiv Kumar Singh, Nortel’s country operation leader, reported that the firm’s Indian MICE volume to Singapore had fallen 30 per cent since 2007.

He said: “The depreciation of the rupee and a slowdown in the (Indian) economy since 2011 has squeezed budgets even further since the financial crisis of 2008/2009, and Singapore is losing out, as it has now become too expensive for (Indian) MICE organisers to even consider.

“Hotel rates are the main bugbear, as Singapore (hotels) charge up to 50 per cent more than regional destinations such as Thailand or Sri Lanka.”

Singh explained that budgets had to stretch to US$65-US$70 per delegate per day in Singapore versus spending just US$25-US$35 in Thailand and Sri Lanka for similar events.

Rajesh Mahajan, an assistant general manager for special events at ICE, said that on top of India’s economic woes, emerging MICE infrastructure within India was also driving business away from popular outbound destinations such as Singapore.

“Organisers are drawn by the fact is that it is cheaper to hold a meeting domestically rather than abroad,” he said.

Read more in TTG Show Daily – IT&CM India 2012

A REVOLUTION in MICE infrastructure and the way the business is regarded is required to further India’s MICE business development, according to Martin Sirk, ICCA CEO.

Sirk, who believes that India has tremendous potential for attracting international MICE events because of its status as an economic powerhouse, said: “India is certainly on the minds of (MICE organisers) because global companies are interested in doing business in India.

“(But) one has to understand that MICE is not just a tourism (business). Business considerations take a front seat when a company plans its event in a particular destination.

“India needs better and modern convention venues in major cities such as Delhi and Mumbai. India (also) needs purpose-built convention centres that offer facilities such as flexible space and world-class communication systems.”

The challenge of India’s limited MICE infrastructure is not unfamiliar to A T Seasons & Vacations Travel India managing director, Amaresh Tiwari.

“We had difficulty finding a venue for 2,000 delegates for the upcoming Indian Association of Tour Operators convention in Mumbai (in September), and were forced to reduce the number of delegates. We need convention facilities for large conferences in major cities,” he said.

Sirk emphasised the need for a shift in the way the MICE business is regarded by the government and private sector players, saying that “government-private sector partnerships ought to be more cohesive” and that the MICE industry “should be treated more as a knowledge economy”.

He encouraged industry sectors to regard conventions as knowledge enhancers that “can help (them) to grow through continued (interaction) with international experts”.

“The focus should move away from the immediate bottomline and be more long-term holistic gain oriented,” he said.

Read more in TTG Show Daily – IT&CM India 2012

Additional reporting by: Rohit Kohul