Tag: MICE

The Airline Industry of India is currently seeing a dip of a 15% drop in domestic flight bookings due to the implementation of the new rules by local governments and authorities in various destinations that require travelers from certain states to carry Covid-19 negative test reports. The decision had an adverse impact on bookings in the past one week for travel one month out. Various states and local governments have made it mandatory for passengers, especially from Maharashtra and Kerala currently topping the highest number of Covid-19 positive cases, to carry negative results of RT-PCR tests conducted within 72 hours ... Read more

The Singapore Tourism Board (STB) has announced the launch of the SingapoReimagine MICE Virtual Show, the first such collaboration between STB and local MICE players. Organised by STB, the two-day event will be held from 3 to 4 March 2021 and is part of Singapore’s efforts to catalyse the MICE industry’s recovery and generate business opportunities for our partners. About 700 participants are expected at the show. The event will feature a locally curated programme that includes live-streamed cultural and leisure tours, culinary masterclasses by celebrity chefs, and a live panel discussion with industry leaders on organising pilot events in Singapore. It will ... Read more

The Ministry of Tourism has set up a new fund under the Champion Sector in Services Scheme (CSSS) to encourage MICE operators to bring more conferences and seminars to India. The MICE (Meetings, incentives, conferences, exhibitions) operators will now be able to avail financial incentives in the form of GST reimbursements. The incentive would be made available for a period of three years. A prior approval from the Ministry will be required to avail these incentives along with a no-objection certificate from the concerned travel trade association. The Ministry has made India Convention Promotion Bureau (ICPB) as the nodal agency ... Read more

The Meetings, Incentives, Conferences and Exhibitions (MICE) tourism market in Sri Lanka  is expected to reach US$ 285 million by 2025, according to a report released recently. According to the Analysis, Size, Share, Growth, Trends and Forecast 2019 – 2025 report released by the Wise Guy Consultants, Sri Lanka is emerging as the fastest growing MICE tourism market. India, Maldives and China are the largest source markets for Sri Lanka MICE Industry. The report, “Sri Lanka MICE Tourism Market: Current Trends, Opportunity, Growth Potential and Forecast to 2025” offers the most up-to-date industry data on the actual market situation and ... Read more

Kericho Tea Plantation (Photo courtesy: jamiiforums.com) Kenya plans to grant loans at discounted interest rates to the hospitality industry to promote green tourism. It was informed by Jonah Ormoi, the chief executive officer of State-owned Tourism Finance Corporation. “We will extend loans at below market rates to the hospitality sector in order to ensure that the tourism sector has a low carbon footprint,” Ormoi said during a forum on sustainable trends in the MICE (Meetings Incentives Conference and Exhibitions) tourism sector. Repayment of the loan should only be started after 24 months from the date of loan.  The authorities expect ... Read more

Rajasthan tourism department is going to have a new tourism policy with priority to Destination Weddings and MICE activities (meetings, incentives, conferences and exhibitions). It also focuses on encouraging film shooting in the state. The state expects to have improved private participation in its tourism projects. As per a recent report, wedding and MICE activities contribute around Rs 5,000 crores to the tourism industry in a year and have become major factors for increased hotel occupancy. By the new tourism policy, Rajasthan tourism aims at providing an atmosphere suitable for destination wedding and MICE activities, to surpass the existing competition ... Read more

The newly revised liquor policy by the state government in Kerala has reflected an increase in tourist arrival in Kerala. According to the recent data released by the Kerala Tourism. Ernakulam has been spotted with a notable change in the number of arrivals. Furthermore, it is a good news for the industry, as the overall revenue generation by the hotel industry also grew pretty well. The Minister for Co-operation, Tourism and Devaswom, Kadakampally Surendran has pointed out that the positive change is as part of the liquor policy reversal, which further reflected in the MICE tourism (Meetings, Incentives, Conferencing, Exhibitions) ... Read more

The 33rd IATO convention held in Odisha The four-day 34th annual convention of Indian Association of Tour Operators (IATO) will be held at Hotel Novotel in Visakhapatnam from September 6 to 9. Tourism Minister KJ Alphons would inaugurate the convention on September 6.  The association will also organize  ‘IATO Run for Responsible Tourism’ on September 7 at 6 AM, starting from Beach Road, followed by panel discussions regarding tourism promotion in the State and domestic markets. “IATO meet was being organised for the first time in the State. About 1,100 tour operators would take part in the convention wherein latest developments ... Read more

The travel/tourism players in the state have welcomed the Cabinet decision to extend bar timing to one hour more exclusively for the tourism sector. The new cabinet decision has come as a boon to the sector which has been suffering at first with the liquor ban and then with the time cap on bars. A new liquor policy has been granted by the Cabinet Ministry with a revised timing for bars in the tourism sector. Currently, bars functioning from 11 am to 11 pm, will be able to open till 12 midnight as per the revised policy. The rule is ... Read more