India remains one of Australia’s largest markets from leisure and M!CE point of view, says Joanna Garrie, Director, Corporate Meetings & Incentives, MCB.
Hazel Jain
Joanna Garrie, Director, Corporate Meetings & Incentives, Melbourne Convention Bureau (MCB), is excited about the Indian market. She said, “The overarching numbers out of India, which is one of our largest markets at the moment post pandemic—from a leisure and M!CE perspective. There is a big opportunity for us here, and we have a representative agency in India in Beautiful Planet.”
“We noticed the M!CE side
of the business coming from India has started to increase and the bureau wanted to make sure that it collected the maximum business by being pro-active in this market. “We got a lot of incentive interest from the Indian M!CE market. We have a financial incentive programme for the corporate clients with 150 people or more, travelling for at least two nights in the city of Melbourne,” Garrie explained.
“Visitors can have a typical Australian experience. Whether it is visiting our beautiful coastline, experiencing our food and wine, doing team-building activities, nature walks, and having encounters with animals, it can all be done within 90 minutes from Melbourne. So, it is a great city to have as base and have that global, cosmopolitan experience,” she said.
Focus for India in 2023
Since the MCB has invested in this market, it is looking at education Melbourne and Victoria can offer. She averred, “We understand Sydney and Gold Coast are the cities that Indians like to visit in Australia. We are here to say, hey, we are here too! We are unique and we have some great experiences as well, with Melbourne being home to the MCG. Melbourne is also home to a many events in Australia. We have Australia Tennis Open championships, Grand Prix, Spring Racing Carnival, and we want to showcase that the groups can include any of these major events, while planning their incentive trip.” Melbourne received a large insurance group from India in June last year. “It was our first post-COVID M!CE group. We have a couple of more groups coming up soon. We are helping them build itineraries. We recommend four nights in Melbourne; to do two days of city-focus activities and then two days in regional Victoria. But this gives one a variety and some exciting experiences. We are happy to work with other states in Australia. We understand there are some incentives for four nights in Melbourne and two nights in Tasmania, for example, so we can work on that,” she said.
