India, Singapore & Malaysia corporates target of April MICE promo
View(s):By Sunimalee Dias
The Sri Lanka Convention Bureau (SLCB) is organising a promotional event in India next month followed by road shows in Singapore and Malaysia, all happening for the first time aimed at boosting chances for Sri Lanka as a venue to host meetings, incentive, conferences and exhibitions (MICE) at least for the next two years.
A specialised promotion with Cox and Kings, a leading tour operator in India, would be held during the latter part of April as a one day event in a bid to conduct business meetings with the 150 corporates in Mumbai, SLCB General Manager Vipula Wanigasekara said in an interview with the Business Times on Thursday.
At least 1.2 million Indians in the corporate sector travel out for corporate meetings and conference and it is this market that Sri Lanka is currently attempting to attract, Mr. Wanigasekara said.
Following the business meetings, an evening event would be hosted for the Indian businesses with a presentation on the benefits of travelling to Sri Lanka to host their conferences, meetings and incentives, he explained.
It was pointed out that they would be targeting to attract at least 75 of the 150 Indian corporate sector participating at this event to agree to send their delegates to Colombo.
In this respect, the SLCB will be conducting the meetings in collaboration with the Sri Lanka Association of Professionals Conferences Exhibitions and Organisations (SLAPCEO) and SriLankan Airlines.
In the same month, two road shows would kick off at the same time in Malaysia and Singapore, he said adding that this would be the first time they would be promoting MICE travel from these destinations.
Currently, the Conventions Bureau is attempting to attract this market, which they were unable to convince previously due to the war. However, plans are underway to activate this market for the corporate sector clientele to host MICE events in Colombo, Mr. Wanigasekara said.
He noted that during this promotion if they were targeting to attract at least 10 corporates from each country adding that this would help promote Sri Lanka as a tourism destination by these visitors as well.
During this road show there would be 15 industry members participating that would also be conducted together with the national carrier and conferences specialist organisation, he said.
This year, the SLCB has already received plans for conferences scheduled in Colombo for the Asia Pacific SKAL Congress, which is a club of all the tourism fraternity; the International Crocodile Conference, International Insurance Conference, Family Law Conference, and International Civil Engineers Asia Pacific.
This year there would be a minimum of 30 international conferences alongside the regular exhibitions held annually with expectations to target 130,000 from this segment of the travel industry, Mr. Wanigasekara explained.
In 2012 there were 119, 000 arrivals from the MICE sector that generated a revenue of approximately US$130 million.
Incentive travel accounts for at least 65 per cent of MICE while conferences comprise 10-15 per cent of the sector’s performance in addition to attracting more corporate meetings, it was noted.
The SLCB promotes the destination in terms of its ability to handle this kind of conferences, a memorable experience by coming to the island nation and the cost factor is in line with its competitors, it was stated.
The biggest event would be the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) that would generate a number of other events like People’s Forum, Youth Forum and the Business Forums that would generate the added revenue, it was pointed out.
| Indian concerned on MICE travel to Colombo
Indians themselves were feeling jittery about travel to Colombo, in the wake of the recent crisis that sparked off in Tamil Nadu resulting in attacks on Sri Lankans visiting the southern state. |
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