Nepal eyes Indian MICE tourists

The outbound Meeting, Incentive, Conference and Exhibition (MICE) segment from neighbouring India has been growing in a geometric proportion in recent years.

“It will continue to grow in line with the phenomenal economic growth that India has been enjoying for the last few years,” said legendary entrepreneur and hotelier Capt CPK Nair, owner of LeelaKempenski Hotels in India, while inaugurating the MICE Travel Mart in Mumbai yesterday.

Major hotel properties in India, hotel chains and organisations from Asia and Europe including Nepal Tourism Board (NTB) participated in the fourth edition of the mart.

It is estimated that 20 per cent to 30 per cent of revenues in most of the hotels worldwide is generated by the MICE segment making it one of the most favourite clientèles for hotels.

The global size of the MICE segment runs into millions of travellers, and France and Austria take the major share of the pie and organises an international MICE event regularly.

It is said that more than 1.5 million Indians travel abroad every year as MICE tourists and the number is growing between 15 per cent to 20 per cent annually.

Nepal was promoted during the mart as one of the favourite destinations for Indian MICE tourists. “A short flight duration to Kathmandu from Mumbai or New Delhi, a wide range of activities that can be offered in a short period of time for time-starved MICE tourists, and cultural and geographical proximity between Nepal and India makes Nepal a choice of destination among corporate houses and MICE tourists,” according to NTB.

Several corporate MICE planners and tour operators were provided necessary information on Nepal in promoting the MICE segment.

source: The Himalayan Times, 15 April 2012