The Hindu Business Line : Conference organisers pick cheaper venues than India

Bangalore, Jan. 8 The ‘conference segment’ of the Indian meeting, incentive, conference and exhibition (MICE) market is facing the heat of the economic recession, with organisers and delegates forced to scale down costs. While organisers are opting for cheaper destinations in Asia over Indian venues, delegates want to spend lesser on hotel accommodation.

Thus, venues such as Dubai, Singapore, Thailand or even a strife-ridden Sri Lanka are chosen over, say, a Hyderabad or Bangalore. What works for these locations over the Indian destinations are cheaper accommodation, cheaper airfare and better entertainment options.

On the other hand, delegates to conferences in India “do not want to spend more than Rs 8,000-9,000 on accommodation today. But a five-star accommodation comes at about Rs 14,000-15,000 per night here,” says Ms Anitha Niranjan, Executive Director, Conferences and Incentives Management (I) Pvt Ltd.

Inadequate facilities

Organisers believe that delegates wouldn’t be willing to spend more than Rs 6,000-7,000 per night in the months to come. “At Rs 6,000, only a three-star accommodation is available in India, while in Thailand a five-star hotel room is available at that rate,” says Mr Surinnder Hakhu, Director, Travel Media Networks.

India has always lacked adequate facilities, and “with a short supply of hotel rooms, the country is still behind other centres in Asia when it comes to incentive and conference travel; and there are not many venues in India too,” he adds. Some of the preferred MICE destinations in India include Goa, Hyderabad, New Delhi, Mumbai, and Chennai. Bangalore is also getting there, say organisers.

Industry impact

According to Mr Hakhu, Kuala Lumpur is also doing better than the Indian destinations. With recession setting in, he says, “even Indian conferences are going to other countries now,” which does not augur well for the Indian tourism industry.

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