Gagan Katyal, Head of Sales & Marketing, Ananta Hotels & Resorts, opines that MICE is expanding on all fronts, small and large. For instance, if there is a senior management strategic meeting, there are many low-level awards, recognition, and review meetings that are also occurring, and they are expanding in both large and small numbers because we have both formats. Speaking about the shift in preference, he says, “Corporate travellers prefer to visit resorts and spread-out areas instead of staying in city hotels. As a hotel company, we prioritise green MICE, which encompasses the environment we create and the resorts we operate. Companies choose elements such as sustainability, responsible luxury, and green MICE because resorts are growing more and more popular and because they recognise the efforts resorts put forth in these areas. Experiential MICE is growing, and these concepts are becoming increasingly accepted in business settings. Simply put, nobody wants to attend a conference, have a gala dinner, and then leave. Since they haven’t left the house in 2–3 years, they want to take people out. Corporates want to take their staff members to a place where they may engage in team-building exercises. Therefore, there is an HR perspective present in every meeting, whether it is a significant discussion at the assistant manager level or a strategic meeting of 10 VPs of a company.”
He concludes, “Senior executives are also focusing on spouse programmes, which implies that CEOs or VPs bring their wives with them when they attend a MICE or strategic meeting. A MICE vacation is what it is. The aforementioned elements are driving resorts to grow in popularity, he adds. MICE is a thriving sector that is here to stay. Because we are the largest in the area, with a variety of venues and sizable convention spaces, we are already attracting interest from around the world, especially for Udaipur. Both by air and by car, Udaipur is fairly well linked. So, even though we haven’t finished one, Udaipur has started to attract attention from all around the world.”
