The BW Businessworld MICE Conclave and Awards 2018, powered by BW Hotelier brought together top hospitality, event and tourism professionals who are involved with the business of MICE in India.

Infrastructure and services being the major loophole for the MICE market in India, several eminent panelists gathered together at the BW Businessworld MICE Conclave and Awards 2018, powered by BW Hotelier at The Grand New Delhi to discuss the way for making India the new MICE destination.

Pranab Sarkar, President, IATO, one of the panelists at the event expressed the need of private sector to invest in the MICE market. He also laid emphasis on the government to reconsider the taxes to make MICE more accessible within the country.

Naveen Rizvi, Regional Director India & Indian Ocean-Pacific World & Executive Director- ICE Integrated Conference and Event Management, TUI agreed to the fact of tax problem to capture more MICE market in India. By giving some examples of Turkey and Dubai, he also mentioned that driving MICE outside India is more comfortable in terms of services and approach.

After being asked about the hurdles faced from the client’s perspective, Saswati Sinha, Head- Human Resources, Chiel India feels that India is still not ready for both domestic as well as international MICE.

During the event, Rajat Sethi, General Manager, The Grand New Delhi, spoke about the issues being faced from the hotels perspective. Bringing down the major issues, he spoke about the talent crunch and lack of MICE education in the hospitality and travel schools which ultimately creates the problem.

Other key speakers at the event included Min. of Tourism Alphons Kannanthanam, Tristan Beau de Lomenie, Director of Operation, Luxe Hotels India and General Manager Delegate – Pullman & Novotel New Delhi; Bejan Dinshaw, Country Manager Abu Dhabi Tourism & Culture Authority; Sudip Ghose, VP, VIP Industries; Amit Gupta, Founder, Story; Anil Bhandari, Chairman, AB Smart Concepts; Varun Chadha, COO, Titun; Gurmeet Singh, MD, Hitachi, Madhav Sehgal, GM, Andaz Delhi and others.

BW Businessworld MICE Awards 2018 Winner List

1.      Best MICE Agency (Outbound) - TUI

2.      Best MICE Agency (Inbound) - Travel Corporation (India) Limited

3.      Best Event Management Agency (Corporate Events) - Fountainhead

4.      Best MICE Venue with Accommodation - Pullman Novotel, Aerocity, New Delhi

5.      Best MICE Convention Centre - India Expo Centre, Noida

6.      Best Destination Marketing (State) - Kerala

7.      Best Destination Marketing (Country) - New Zealand

8.      Best Corporate Event - Laqshya Live Experiences for Google Workplace

9.      Best Employee Incentive Event - engage4more

10.  Best Trade Engagement Event - Kestone for Dell EMC India Partner Summit

11.  Best Exhibition - UBM for CPhI

12.  MICE Agency of the Year - Wizcraft

13.  Best MICE Technology Company - Cvent

14.  MICE Person of the Year - Rajeev Waddan, Director, Omraaga Corporate Services

15.  MICE Future Leader of the Year - Reema Sanghavi, Maximus MICE and Media Solutions