ICPB Set To Host Third MICE Conclave

Jyoti Koul - New Delhi

The India Convention Promotion Bureau (ICPB) has announced its third MICE conclave to be held in New Delhi on August 10 and 11, 2005. The event has been initiated to motivate service providers to sell India as a MICE destination.

RM Puri

What is special about this year's conclave is the increased number of participants that it will be attended by. The two-day event will host a mart as well that will highlight the services and destination venues available in the country. The mart plans to register about 50 buyers this year. Apart from the regular presentations and the mart, the event will also have three important 'professional sessions' namely: Successful Bidding, Financial Management and Marketing an Event.

The event will have guest speakers from the International Congress & Convention Association (ICCA) and YC Deveshwar, chairman of ITC Ltd. as its keynote speaker. The ICPB has also invited Renuka Chowdhury, minister of tourism, to be the event's chief guest.

Speaking about the conclave, RM Puri, executive director of ICPB, said, "The event is an opportunity to showcase India's potential to successfully hold conventions, meetings, incentives and events at an international level as well as explore the possibilities of holding conventions in secondary cities like Agra and Jaipur."

He added that the number of conventions held in India in 2003 was 101, which has grown by about 15 per cent in 2004. With these statistics, India ranks sixth in this segment among Asian countries. "MICE in India is slowly getting an impetus and India's share of MICE worldwide is about one per cent," Puri said.