HERALD: What does your company do?
QAMARR HAKIM: Incrivel Goa is the first and only travel and event solutions brand in the Goan hospitality space. We specialize in Meetings, Incentives, Conferences, Exhibition (MICE) and the social events segment. We are headquartered at Margao and have sales and representative offices across source markets comprising of Mumbai, Bangalore, Hyderabad, Chennai and Coimbatore.
HERALD: How did you get into the business?
QH: It was a natural progression given that one director was a hotelier heading sales and marketing at a leading 5 Star property in Goa and the other a managing director at a leading event management company in the State.
HERALD: How big is the MICE industry in Goa?
QH: The MICE and social events industry in Goa is more than a Rs 500 crore business today. A major portion of this business originates from metropolitan cities such as Mumbai, Delhi and Bangalore. We are major stakeholders in this space and certainly the only company offering a complete solution under one brand.
HERALD: How did you manage to become major stake holders in this space?
QH: We focus only on Meetings, Incentives, Conferences, Exhibition (MICE) and social events and offer an integrated hospitality solution to customers. It’s our single minded focus and a close understanding of the pulse of the MICE and social events market that makes Incrivel Goa the pioneering force in this segment. Until now, most of the event companies have been based out of the major metros with a handling office in Goa which quite frankly have very little knowledge of this demanding industry.
HERALD: What makes you stand apart?
QH: Our reputation, the fact that we are local and our ability to handle larger more complicated group itineraries makes us unlike any other company in the segment.
HERALD: Any initial hiccups?
QH: Back in 2012-13, most hotels in Goa were unwilling to offer hotel room inventory to the MICE and social events industry due to its lower length of stay as against the charter and inbound leisure segment. Hoteliers would in most cases hold onto more than 80% of their hotel room inventories with a release date of no less than 7 to 10 days as per contractual obligations. This left most MICE operative companies with little or no options but to look for other destinations such as Kerala or Rajasthan or have them in Goa during off season. The situation today is quite the opposite with most hoteliers having understood the ill effects of their skewed strategy.
HERALD: What are your future plans?
QH: Incrivel Goa is one of the brands under the parent company Incrivel Global Private Limited. Incrivel stands for Incredible in Portuguese, which is synonymous with the ‘Incredible India’ campaign under India Tourism. ‘Incrivel Goa’ is our version of this marketing drive under Goa tourism, one which is purely focused on driving MICE and social events to Goa in the years to come. Over the next 03 years, we shall be launching 02 more MICE and events focused brands namely ‘Incrivel Kerala’ and ‘Incrivel Rajasthan’ based out the respective cities as the names suggest and a 3rd brand, very close to our hearts ‘Incrivel Hospitality Services’ which shall solely focus on sales and marketing representation for smaller 3 and 4 star hotels in Goa, who unfortunately until now, haven’t had an access to quality market knowledge and domestic/international business relations due to a lack of sales & marketing budget spends.
HERALD: Is there a shift from the traditional dependency on international tourists to MICE?
QH: Without a doubt MICE today offers a higher yield per room occupied at a hotel, apart from its ancillary spends on theme events, spa and recreation, city tour experiences and other leisure activities. This is starkly different from the low paying and extremely price sensitive charter market of yester years, who have now moved to cheaper holiday destinations such as Vietnam and Thailand. One must understand that the impact of international and domestic conferences are multi fold and is felt by all spheres supporting the hospitality industry, be it hotels, event production, transport – logistics or the entertainment industry.
HERALD: How is Goa faring in the MICE segment?
QH: With the increasing domestic and international connectivity to Goa at extremely competitive fares, Goa is definitely the place to be. The slowdown in international inbound leisure market is also helping the MICE segment in Goa to develop.
