A huge back-log of product launches, business conferences pending for almost two years during the Covid-19 pandemic is finally being cleared with a fresh burst in Meetings, Incentives, Corporates, Exhibition (MICE) tourism in the domestic market.

 "Domestic MICE has kick-started the recovery given limited re-opening of international destinations, and we have delivered several domestic corporate groups of between 50-200 delegates per group across locations like Goa, Mumbai, Delhi, Bengaluru, Hyderabad, Jaipur - for product launches, corporate meetings and incentive events," said Meera Charnalia, Senior Vice President- MICE, Thomas Cook (India).

According to the industry experts, health and safety are the main priorities for corporates followed by the ease of travel and access to flights. Therefore, these are the factors that would be the key drivers in this segment in the coming months.

“With Covid-19 cases easing up, corporates are ready to start MICE as travel confidence begins to gradually return, however, they are still concerned about adherence to health protocols. We have seen an encouraging demand for domestic destinations but international travel is yet to pick up. Companies are still worried about the pandemic besides international airfares are a bit expensive as of now,” said Rikant Pittie, Co-Founder, EaseMyTrip.

Preferred Destinations

According to the EaseMyTrip, Goa, Jaipur, Udaipur are the preferred places for corporate meetings and events. On the other hand, Mussoorie and Jaisalmer are the emerging destinations for such corporate gatherings.

“While corporates are enquiring for international travel basis borders opening up, currently there is increased focus on the domestic market based on the 100 per cent flight capacity and eased restrictions,” said SD Nandakumar, President, Foreign Exchange, SOTC Travel.

The domestic share has witnessed a surge with Goa, Kashmir, Jaipur, Udaipur, and Mahabalipuram leading the charts as favourites for corporate travel in the country.

Hotel Occupancy

“Around 25 per cent of the room occupancies in hotels have been due to corporate travel in the month of November. This is the scenario in the majority of the metros except Delhi where the number might be a bit higher. Also, the stay of corporates has now become shorter from approximately 2-3 days to a day,” said Gurbaxish Singh Kohli, Vice-President, FHRAI.

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