MICE now a big contributor to Goa’s Tourism industry

The tourism industry in the State has been sailing in rough seas for a while now. The numbers of foreign tourists visiting the State has reduced dramatically over the past two years but this has been offset by the equally dramatic increase in the number of domestic tourists visiting the State. 

In the lucrative MICE (Meetings, Incentives, Conferences, and Events) business, Goa is reaping the benefits of its unique appeal across the country. 

The conference market in the country is valued at about $4.8 billion and is growing at a fast pace. Goa is amongst the top five destinations for MICE in the country.   

Vikram Antao, GM, Radisson Blu Resort said the financial year had been very good so far. This happy state of affairs he said was all due to the mice segment. Vikram said “We get corporate from Mumbai, Delhi, Chennai and Hyderabad. The pharmaceutical industry frequents our property. And yes there are weddings from the smaller cities and towns of the country too. With regards to international groups we get groups from Europe. They stay for 5 nights or 7 nights, where as our domestic groups stay for two and a half to three days.” 

He said MICE contributes approximately 65 to 70% of the total revenue to his hotel. 

Tanya Veigas, senior sales manager at the Goa Marriott Resort and Spa said “MICE business helps form a base for the hotel which assists in maximising room rates thus helping a hotel drive its occupancies.”

This year, she said it witnessed a plateau in terms of the number of events and conferences into Goa as a destination. The market however, was able to cannibalize on pricing. Mumbai and Delhi were key markets for her property, she said. FMCG companies and Banking firms were regulars at the property with the average stay anywhere between 2 and 3 days.

She said there was a steady growth in demand for Goa as a MICE destination year-on-year, in spite of emergence of new destinations like Cochin and Jaipur. One had to also remember that travelling to international destinations had become cheaper. Goa, she said still stood out within the Indian market as a preferred destination.

Betty Remedios, director, Sales and Marketing, Grand Hyatt Goa confirmed that fact. 

“Meeting destinations have gained new importance with planners now looking for destinations which offered a combination of great value and a relaxed atmosphere. Our hotel has the facilities which means we attracted large scale symposiums from across the globe,” she said.

 With regards to business, Betty said it had been good with a good mix of leisure, business and weddings. 

She said “With the market looking buoyant for India we are surely looking at growth in business.” Planners, she said, were looking for value for money and destinations offering a combination of great value and relaxed atmosphere were being preferred.  

Another senior executive of a hotel in the north said “the number of weddings and conferences has been growing over the last 4 years. Depending on the season FIT is around 80% with MICE around 15 to 20%. It is a developing market for us but it is growing fast. The average stay is 2 nights 3 days. We get a mixture of companies from Mumbai, Delhi and Bengaluru. We get a lot of financial and pharma companies at the property”.     

He said all the properties in the State were getting business from Indian companies. He said 90% of the companies were domestic. Budgets he said were usually between Rs 30 to 40 lakh. The All India conferences he said had higher budgets, though it did not usually mean the profit margins were better. 

He did not disagree when asked if the figure could be well over the Rs 500 crore mark.  Weddings he said were always very profitable with the parties keen on very good food and expensive alcohol. On emerging trends he said the domestic market was growing very fast and this would be the case for the next couple of years. 

Despite the growing business, everyone the Herald spoke to felt there was much the government could do to help in the further growth of the business.    

Vikram Antoa felt it was important that large convention centre be created with excellent transport facilities, great roads for the movement of large trucks. In addition it was important to have WIFI connectivity with ease. 

Betty Remedios felt the government was definitely raising the bar by introducing interesting activities like helicopter rides, hot air balloon, sea planes etc. Tanya Veigas felt the State government was one of the most supportive administrations in the country right from investments in infrastructure (new highways, larger airports) to offering a waiver on luxury tax to the state during the offseason.