India Convention Promotion Bureau (ICPB), the National apex body for promoting MICE industry in India, successfully concluded its flagship event 14th Conventions India Conclave, held from 7th- 9th December 2023 at Mahatma Mandir Convention and Exhibition Centre, Gandhi Nagar, Gujarat. Themed as Sustainable MICE: Empowering events towards a 5 trillion economy, the event got a massive support from the Gujarat Tourism.
The inaugural session of 14th ICPB CIC Convention witnessed a grand reception as Shri Bhupendra Bhai Patel – Hon’ble Chief Minister of Gujarat graced the occasion as Chief Guest. Guest of Honour- Shri Mulubhai Bera, Hon’ble Minister of Tourism, Cultural Activities, Forest & Environment and Climate Change, Govt of Gujarat was also present at the forum. Other dignitaries on the dais included Shri Amaresh Tiwari – Vice Chairman, ICPB and Chairman – Convention India Conclave-2023, Shri Rakesh Kumar Verma, IAS, Additional Secretary, Ministry of Tourism, Govt. of India & Chairman-ICPB, Shri Hareet Shukla IAS- Secretary Tourism, Gujrat Tourism, Govt of Gujarat and Shri Senthil Gopinath, CEO, ICCA.
The opening session witnessed the announcement of ICPB State Chapter under “Meet in Gujarat” Sub-brand and 5 MOUs being signed, amongst which ICPB signed one with Gujarat Tourism and another with ICCA. ICPB hall of fame award was presented posthumously to late Shri Girish Kwatra.
Some of the key takeaways from the sessions included the need of leveraging the power of MICE by creating City Based Convention Bureaus for a multi-state integrated MICE strategy from India. In his session, Mr. Senthil Gopinath, CEO, ICCA, acknowledged the potential of India and he stressed that with everything right in its hands, India now should focus on how to internationalise their positioning. Shri. Rakesh Kumar Verma stressed that MICE industry sits at the cross section of business and tourism and therefore it has to be promoted uniquely. He further added that creating a vibrant ecosystem and ease of doing business for MICE sector needs to be addressed. Sh. Rakesh Kumar Verma also highlighted the role of skill development for promoting the growth of MICE industry in India.
A key component of exhibition was also kept at the conclave to encourage buyer-seller meetings. Commenting on the 14th CIC, Mr. Amaresh Tiwari, Vice Chairman, ICPB shared, “We had several buyers coming in from 22 countries. We have seen participation of exhibitors from various venues, hospitality sectors and major convention centres from across the nation. India is the fifth largest growing economy and the MICE industry is expected to grow very rapidly. We have launched the ICPB Gujarat Chapter that will work as Gujarat Tourism Bureau. We will soon organise an International roadshow to highlight the offerings of Gujarat. ICPB will develop criteria to give rating to MICE venues and a national level supply chain management repository will be created to identify the right players.”
Some other prominent themes that were discussed included – “Meet in India” – India as a MICE Destination, Culture, Nature, Heritage and MICE Potential, Sustainable MICE: Nurturing Gender Equality for empowering the Future, Sustainability in the Tourism Industry, Exploring Sponsorship & Bidding opportunities & Attendees Experience for major conferences in India, Supply driven MICE competitiveness for India, How we can Leverage Modern Technology (Al) to further accelerate growth of the MICE Industry in India, amongst others.
In his valedictory address, Shri. Hareet Shukla, IAS, Secretary Tourism, Govt. of Gujarat assured that all possible support to the MICE industry will be provided by Gujarat Tourism and Gujarat Government will work aggressively to become the top state for MICE in India.
