Sunday, August 15, 2010

Conventions India Conclave, 2010 in Bangalore

The Conventions India Conclave, held in Bengaluru at the Lalit Ashok Hotel, from August 27th to 28th, 2010, provided an opportunity for interactions with the India Convention Promotion Bureau’s (ICPB) members — all specialists in the organisation of meetings and conventions and also other suppliers. This core group, made of members from the airlines, leading hotels, convention centres, tour operators, travel agents, professional conference organisers, state tourism development corporations and other organisations providing ancillary services plays a pivotal role in any major event of this nature in the country.

The mounting opportunities for holidays and leisure have made India one of the leading venues for MICE. The MICE infrastructure in the country has been developing rapidly and convention hotels and conference venues of international standards are being set up in cities across the country. With the corresponding expansion in the network of airline operations, India is ready to position and market itself as an important MICE destination. The prime focus of the ICPB is to disseminate information regarding the infrastructural facilities and related services available in India for organising meetings, incentives and conventions and also to assist the tourism industry to effectively market the MICE potential of India internationally. Overseas participants at the Conclave also had an opportunity to join the tours on offer to give them an opportunity to inspect the infrastructural facilities and view the dazzling diversity of India with its colours, tastes and the unique aromas. It also acted as an excellent platform for participants from many different but related disciplines to interact, seek information and share experiences.

In order to strengthen the brand positioning of `Incredible India’ as a MICE destination, buyers from overseas were invited to meet with suppliers from India’s MICE industry and experience the product themselves. Attending the meet this year were also a slew of large multi-national and trans-national corporations who had an interest in improving their meeting-related purchasing. The Conventions India Conclave is the country’s only marketing event of its type for the MICE industry.

Tuesday, August 10, 2010

India Tourism lures Japanese visitors with Hyderabadi Food Festival

India Tourism, Tokyo got together with Jet Airways, Ashok Chain of Restaurants and Roko Group to give the citizens of Tokyo a flavour of one of India’s finest culinary experiences with the ‘Hyderabadi Food Festival’ from 15th to 31st August, 2010. The festival was launched on Independence Day by Mr. H.K. Singh, Ambassador of India, in the presence of Mr. Saito, Advisor, Japanese Association of Travel Agents (JATA).

A major promotion for the Commonwealth Games to be held in Delhi was also made. Riding parallel to the duration of the festival was an open seminar / promotion organised in co-ordination with M/s TCI and M/s Club Tourism. The event was attended by over 150 people and door prizes on offer included free air tickets, restaurant coupons, Indian handicrafts and lots more. The Hyderabadi Food Festival was inspired by the very popular India Food Fair held in Hotel Okura, Tokyo in July in association with the Taj Group of Hotels. Indiancuisine has found much favour amongst the people of Japan and festivals such as these are proving to be an excellent marketing tool for India as a holiday destination.