Tourism MSME hopes for longterm benefits out of India’s G20 blitzkrieg. (AP Photo/Bhumika Saraswati)Over 200 meetings and conferences in over 50 destinations with around 60 of them with foreign delegates participating, the tourism industry in the country, especially the MSME segment, although do not see business prospects in the near term, but has hopes the nearly a year-long G20 blitzkrieg will bring a turnaround in their business fortunes in the long term.
“So far no one from our membership has got any business offers,” said a senior functionary with a certain level of dejection in the selection process criteria of companies for G20 events. The business turnover criteria set by the government for participating in the bidding process was favouring only big event companies.
“We work on a management fee with clients for holding their meetings and conferences. We cannot meet the turnover criteria set by the government,” said a CEO of a registered professional conference organiser (PCO) based in Delhi.
The MSME in the travel, tourism and hospitality trade do not see immediate benefits from the G20 events that the country will be hosting as part of the presidency. “Immediate beneficiaries will be big event management companies and hotels,” says a leading tour operator.
Overall, the tourism industry has a lot of hopes in the G20 presidency and expects it to be a major exercise to elevate India into the centre stage as a destination not only for business and investments, but also for tourism.
Says MP Bezbaruah, secretary-general, Hotel Association of India (HAI), “The presidency of G20 will open great opportunities for the hospitality sector. In the short run we look forward to welcoming guests and acquaint them with the experience of world class Indian hospitality. This will be an occasion for the government and the industry together to uplift infrastructure and service.
“In the long run we believe it will be an opportunity to brand India through the top policy makers and opinion leaders that we will have the pleasure to host. As Nehru had said, welcome a tourist and send back a friend.”
According to government estimates, around 12,000 foreign delegates are expected to visit India as part of the G20 meetings of different tracks during the next one year. The industry estimates it to go much higher considering a lot of side events that are expected to happen unofficially.
“Ultimately India will be all over in terms of news coverage in all the G20 source countries, which are also the key source markets for Indian tourism. That will give the country a lot of mileage, branding and visibility,” says Pronab Sarkar, a leading tour operator and governing board member for the Services Export Promotion Council (SEPC). He also feels that the actual results in terms of business for travel, tourism and hospitality stakeholders will start showing up after 2023.
While G20 is a great opportunity to showcase India’s tourism potential and especially the MICE prowess of the country, there are sections of the trade which doubts strategies on the part of the tourism ministry in encashing it. “Brand India will definitely shine. The question is how will India Tourism take advantage of this. We have no plan, no action, no discussion,” says Rajeev Kohli, Jt. MD, Creative Travel, a leading inbound travel company.
The MICE industry also wants the government to formulate strategies by involving the trade bodies in showcasing the meetings and conference infrastructure in the country. “Today, the perception of India is that we don’t have meetings and conference infrastructure. We have to use this opportunity to change that perception and showcase the MICE infrastructure to the world. The Ministry of Tourism should take the lead in formulating strategies together with trade associations like ICPB,” says Chander Mansharamani, a leading MICE operator and past vice-chairman of the ICPB.
Meanwhile, the ministry of tourism, along with the ICPB is scheduling a major MICE show, Incredible MICE (I-MICE) sometime in April 2023 to promote India’s MICE potential to the G20 world. According to Amaresh Tiwari, vice-chairman of the ICPB, the event will be held in Bengaluru in April for which the dates will be decided based on the availability of hotels in the city. He said that the plan is to do a big show with around 600 overseas buyers and around 400 domestic buyers.
“G20 countries traditionally are our main source markets. So the meetings and conferences are potential opportunities for us to showcase our MICE potential to them,” he said. “I-MICE will be a game-changer for the Indian MICE industry,” he informed.
