Bringing M!CE back on track

Jagdeep Bhagat, National Coordinator, Network of Indian MICE Agents (NIMA), shares updates on MICE industry and the network’s upcoming initiatives to revive the Indian MICE segment.

Janice Alyosius

India has become one of the most sought-after MICE destinations in recent years. The country offers an impressive array of accommodation and conference support facilities that meet global standards.

Jagdeep Bhagat, National Coordinator, Network of Indian MICE Agents (NIMA), while giving information about the network’s work in sector, said, “We have been fortunate that our membership base has not been squeezed during COVID. We were actively in touch with our members even during lockdowns. At that time, everyone knew that business had stopped worldwide, so there wasn’t much to talk about. What we all needed was some kind of emotional comfort and camaraderie. This was well appreciated by our members. In fact, even in times when there was no business, we got some good MICE players as our members.”

Speaking of the strategic changes in the association, Bhagat said, “We may have a young dynamic team following us sometime soon. Strategically working style will not change; our core objectives remain the same. We want to remain relevant to our members and that is where we don’t want to compromise.”

Key obstacles or challenges in the MICE industry

According to Bhagat, in certain parts of the world restrictions related to the pandemic are still in place, which are a deterrent for effective restart of MICE activities. “Hong Kong is still closed and is not expected to reopen for another three or six months. Similarly, Japan still needs time to reopen. The countries which have opened up do have some sort of protocol to be followed, so the flow of delegates in and out of those countries is not very smooth. Even in India, there are restrictions, though more relaxed than before. There are still certain protocols and compliances that need to be followed. Therefore, the growth is restricted because of these factors,” he said.

“The natural trajectory, which was expected once the world opened up and all tourism activities started, MICE have in fact taken around six months delay in getting that start. But now, as we speak, we are almost there. Activities have started, even our forum, which is a physical event, was held in 2019 and now, after this two-year block, we are back to physical events. So, it has revived and is back on track,” he added

Key takeaways

“The key learning,” Bhagat said, “was that we need to adapt quickly to the demands that the world practically places on us. We have to be quick and adaptable to these changes.” He also emphasised on the importance of collaboration. “We need to work together more and put less pressure on ourselves because health has come into play now, although it has always been and should be an important factor.”

MICE trends for 2022

Bhagat revealed that MICE trends for 2002 will be smaller events. “It won’t be the big events that happened before, but the number of events will increase. Choosing a destination will be a tough criterion this time around, as clients are now looking for destinations that are a little offbeat and secluded in terms of what we call as away from the crowd. But we are finding these days what clients are demanding. They don’t want to go to big hotels or big venues because they are conducting their events with smaller numbers,” he said.

NIMA’s future plans

Sharing NIMA’s future plans, Bhagat said, “We are devising programmes by which we will be able to issue certificates. It will be NIMA specified certification programme for MICE professionals that will be known as NIMA Certified MICE Professional (NCMP), and we hope that in the coming years this will become the most sought after certification by any MICE operator, or MICE professional in the country. We are almost halfway through curating the content for the certification programme.” He added,”We are planning to create and curate MICE specific exclusive expo; this will be getting the world to India and will be called ‘I- MICE’. We expect the first MICE expo to be held in 2025. So, MICE operators and the Indian MICE industry should look forward to I-MICE 2025.”