India MICE Alliance is a unifying campaign for collective reflection of our industry. It is an effort to voice our industry concerns at all three levels – Ministry of Tourism, Ministry of Commerce and Ministry of MSME. The core Advisory Committee of this campaign has representations from all the three, including MSME, especially for which our Prime Minister has announced several benefits in his INR 20 Lakh Crore stimulus package. Under India MICE Alliance Campaign, a framework form has been sent to all MICE associations for their responses on member issues and urgent expectations from the government of India. All responses will be collated for further action. To remain updated join on India MICE Alliance on Facebook & LinkedIn.
The India MICE Alliance is supported by ITPO (Department of Commerce) and ICPB (under the aegis of Ministry of Tourism).
To stay updated please join us on:
Facebook : https://www.facebook.com/groups/230097831514672/
LinkedIn : https://www.linkedin.com/groups/13859000/
……………………………………………………………………………………………………….
Message from the Chairman – Rajesh Agrawal, IAS, ED, ITPO
“The global pandemic of novel Corona has brought the entire socio-economic structure across the globe to a standstill. There is immense uncertainty regarding potential repercussions in long term and alternative way outs. However, it is increasingly becoming evident that a fresh beginning would be required in most of the sectors for an early recovery which can be sustained. The business operations in most sectors will need to be re-calibrated for early revival of economy.
The Meetings, Incentives, Conferences, Exhibitions (MICE) space in India was poised for robust growth and set to triple over the next two to three years. MICE industry is a strong catalyst for our economic growth and also the harbinger of business tourism in the country. The direct market size of MICE in India is in excess of Rs. 40,000 crore and it provides job opportunities to lakhs of skilled, semi-skilled and even the unskilled workforce. Moreover, MICE industry is key to growth of MSME sector in the country as it enables market access and expansion for the small enterprises in the most optimal manner.
The India MICE Alliance Campaign coordinated by Exhibition Showcase publication aims to bring together all segments of MICE industry on one platform to enable assess the impact of the pandemic on the entire industry and have a collective reflection on opportunities for future. India Trade Promotion Organisation (ITPO), an apex organization of Department of Commerce for promotion of trade through exhibitions and trade shows, have decided to be part of this noble initiative. We strongly believe that early revival of the MICE sector can actually play a catalytic role in revival of MSME sector and consequently the overall economy.
The Campaign has set up a core advisory committee with representations from all segments of MICE industry. Further, the advisory committee has been internally grouped in five sub-committees representing Exhibitions, Conventions, B2B Events, Business Travel and Hotels/Hospitality (Business Tourism), with the objective to enable sub-sector focused discussions in the sub-committees which can be then taken up for further discussions at the level of the Advisory committee. It is heartwarming to see that representatives from across the MICE ecosystem including various MICE focused associations have come forward to be a part of this campaign’s Advisory Committee.
The central objective of this campaign is Survival & Revival of our industry. Through the advisory committee, efforts are being made to reach out to various stakeholders in MICE industry to present their perspectives and suggestions for early revival of the sector. This will on one hand enable the sector present its reasonable demands to the government in a structured manner for the requisite support, and on the other hand enable develop a roadmap for the industry to follow for getting itself back on the track. It is also our combined endeavor to keep our fraternity motivated and together prepare for the times when our industry will open post COVID-19.
I would like to appeal to all the stake holders to collaborate and work together for the growth of MICE industry with a special focus towards Exhibition & Conference sector. I would also like to put on record our appreciation for the support received from various arms of the government including ICPB for making this campaign a success.”
…………………………………………………………………………………………………..
Talking about the campaign, Mr. Raghav Khosla, Group Editor, Exhibition Showcase, MICE Showcase & Founder, India MICE Alliance campaign said that this is a unifying campaign that aims to bring together various associations & stakeholders serving the MICE industry on one platform.
Amidst these unprecedented times, we needed to do something akin to this to make a collective reflection of our voice to reach out to the policy makers. If we do not act together then we may not be able to project the right weightage of our sector. We need to act now for the survival and revival of our exhibition & convention industry. We are very thankful to India Trade Promotion Organisation – a Government of India enterprise and India Convention Promotion Bureau (ICPB) (under the aegis of Ministry of Tourism) for endorsing this campaign. Our special thanks to Sh. Rajesh Agrawal for Chairing this initiative & to Sh. Rakesh Kumar Verma, Joint Secretary, Ministry of Tourism & Chairman ICPB for extending his gracious support to the campaign as our key mentor. We know that our MICE industry is the catalyst to our economic growth and harbinger of business tourism. Therefore we will do our best to be heard by Ministry of Tourism, Ministry of Commerce and Ministry of MSME. Much gratitude to Sh. Vinod Zutshi, Ex. Secretary, Ministry of Tourism, Sh. Ronjon Lahiri, Former Asst. DG, Ministry of Tourism, Sh. Vijay Kumar, Director – DI, Ministry Of MSME, Sh. P Udayakumar, Director (P & M), NSIC, Sh. Sandip Das, Director, Trade Promotion Council of India, Sh. V. Anbu, DG & CEO, IMTMA and President, UFI (20/21), Sh. Balvinder Singh Sawhney – Asst. Secretary General, FICCI, Sh. J Shankar – General Manager, CII & Sh. Naveen Seth – Principal Director, PHD Chamber of Commerce for accepting to extend their support & guidance to this campaign. #TogetherWeCan
Our sincere gratitude to all MICE leaders from various MICE focused associations who have extended their support to be a part of the Campaign’s Core Advisory Committee. Broadly, the main objectives of India MICE Alliance Campaign are To SURVIVE & TO REVIVE our exhibition & convention industry. The functions have been elaborated as under:
1.Assessment & Analysis:
- Study the overall damage to various aspects of MICE.
- Formulate a clear, concise and practical wish list for our sector.
- Keep the industry together, inspired and informed
2. Advocacy & Push:
- Approach the policy makers with our industry’s issues & expectations in a structured format.
- Convey to the govt. that exhibitions and conferences are important to kick-start the economy.
- Convey to the government to class business events separately from ‘mass gatherings’ so that exhibitions and conferences begin to happen at the earliest.
3. Safety SOP’s for Organisers, Venues and Service Providers:
- To ensure that sufficient measures are in place to make exhibitions and conferences safe for everyone. This includes:
- Personal safety – Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) use, preventative testing, contact tracing
- Space cleaning – Cleaning of public spaces, exhibitor and supplier disinfection requirements, maintenance guidelines
- Floor Plan Layout – Enhanced spacing between booths, enhanced aisles etc.
- Social density – Physical distancing rules, attendee flow, maximum capacity, registration protocols
- Entrance Protocols – Queuing controls, availability of sanitation, masks, testing, contact tracing, thermometers
- On-site services and management – Availability of isolation areas, masks, hand sanitizers, waste bins, approved vendor & labour, medical and cleaning staff
To stay updated please join us on:
