Dubai is now targeting MICE

Dubai Tourism office in India now has a separate team for Dubai Business Events, which would specifically work towards boosting MICE business from India.

NISHA VERMA

The first of its kind four-city roadshow for Dubai Business Events saw several stakeholders like DMCs and hotels showcasing their MICE offerings and products for MICE operators in India. Karina Lance, Senior Manager, Sales and Convention Services, Dubai Business Events, informed why they wanted to focus on MICE business in India separately. “We have had an office here since the past 19 years, but now we have a dedicated team for MICE. MICE is one of the largest segments for us and we did what we had done five years ago on entering the Chinese market, where we specifically targeted incentives and conferences from that market. We’ve had roadshows in the past promoting leisure, cruise, and luxury. However, business event is a different segment, and there is a different way to approach it. I believe that we need more technicalities, as the requirements and demographics of this segment are different, and that is what we are addressing here.”

Carl Vaz, Director, Dubai Tourism – India, agreed and shared that the MICE market from India to Dubai is quite big and still has a lot of potential, which they are looking to tap. “Dubai is the largest outbound market in terms of numbers. In 2015 we had over 1.6 million Indians visiting Dubai, from leisure, business, MICE, as well as the VFR segment. Dubai Business Events as a team will now be much more active and aggressive in India, in terms of reaching out not only to the MICE industy, but also to the weddings segment, which is also part of events,” he informed.

Lance said that they have an incentive program for MICE groups. “We have a certain matrix for different groups and numbers coming in. Whenever we get an enquiry, we evaluate the economic impact in the city, and based on that we offer different type of service, either in kind or sometimes a marketing fund, if the group number is very big.”

She goes on to explain a two-fold strategy they will execute in the future. “We understand that we need to directly speak to corporate clients in different sectors, but at the same time, we also value the fact that those corporate clients also work with intermediaries and agents. Thus, our approach is always to work with the two,” Lance added.

Number game
In 2015, Dubai had over 1.6 million Indians visitors, from leisure, business, MICE, as well as the VFR segment