Capitalizing On The Massive MICE & Luxury Travel Market In India, The MILT Congress Gathered Industry Stalwarts In Mumbai & Delhi

The 7th Annual MICE India and Luxury Travel Congress 2019 successfully concluded last week with some path breaking discussions that highlighted the   importance of ‘out of the box initiatives’, hyper- personalization, understanding budgeting realities and creating value-for-money experiences as business game changers.

This years’ annual saw business at an all-time high with 200+ handpicked buyers from across India along with global suppliers and clocked in more than 20 hours of networking, thus making it one of a kind platform, carefully curated for organizers of MICE, business & luxury travel including corporates, event management companies, destination wedding planners, travel agencies, luxury travel designers and film production houses.

The MILT Excellence Awards 2019, one of the most prestigious ceremonies, felicitated achievements and celebrated creativity of top organizations and individuals.

Held in top metropolitan cities of India, Delhi and Mumbai, the congress featured discussions on AI & the future of events, destination must haves, key ingredients required to create memorable experiences, creating an ‘X Factor’ in a repeated MICE destination, tips on tailor-making out of the box experiential incentive travel, and also shared a closer outlook on the Indian outbound MICE market.

In addition, to the unconventional conference program, the MILT Congress provided buyers with a personalized schedule of one to one meetings with a handpicked selection of leading suppliers. Both the Mumbai & Delhi edition delivered more than 4000 mutually matched and pre-selected meeting appointments over the two business packed days.

Commenting on the same, Stephan Neidhart, Area Manager GCC, India, from the sponsors – Zurich Tourism says “This is a great platform to network with Indian corporations especially from the tourism board as we can now understand and we can adapt to the kind of business the MICE industry is forwarding with. Also, individuals and corporates of the MICE sector have this splendid opportunity to engage in thought-provoking and informative discussions that can help us reshape our strategies for the future.”

Further emphasizing on the quality of the engagement, Mukesh Jain, Sr. GM Marketing, Havells states “It was an excellent platform to meet and network with lot of consulates, DMC’s & Luxury Hotel Chains. It has turned to be an eye opener for a company like Havells as we could score one-to-one interactions with destinations, tourism boards and hospitality experts from all over the world.”

India’s luxury travel market is growing rapidly with an annual projected growth rate of 12.8% by between 2015 and 2025. As per reports, India will account for 50 million outbound tourists by 2020 making India the 6th largest business travel market. Commenting on this growing market, Jamie Alvarez, CEO, World Dimension, claims “This is the first time in India that we have attended such a big scale and quality MICE event, we see great potential for the upcoming business. The sessions given by the industry experts were extremely insightful and it is inspiring to see a room of passionate, motivated individuals working towards the same goal – making the MICE industry bigger, better and bring more innovative ideas.”

Further highlighting the overall event, Rohit Lamba, VP & Head Branding, Jindal Steel & Power Ltd. says “The event gave us enough exposure to connect with tourism boards and travel luxury corporations as we sat together and understood each other’s requirements, now that creates a transparent module to exchange ideas and focus on customization and make the MICE industry much stronger. It has been an educative session for me as an experience. I look forward to being a part of future editions of this excellent forum.”

Winners were recognized in both cities – Mumbai and Delhi across all 10 categories –

The full list of award winners in Delhi is as follows –

• Best Incentive program in an International Destination – Mangalam Cement
• Corporate Event of the Year- Balmer Lawrie
• Most Innovative MICE Program of the Year – Godfrey Phillips India Limited
• Best Incentive program within India – Dalmia Bharat Limited
• EMC OF The Year Award – Story Experiences
• MILT Luxury Travel Super Hero – Signature Tours by Creative Travel
• MILT MICE Super Hero of the Year – Ice Group India
• The TMC Over Achiever of the Year – FCM Travel Solutions
• Most Number of Destination Weddings in a Year Award – Foreign Wedding Planners

The full list of award winners in Mumbai is as follows –

• X factor Award – Reliance Retail
• Best Incentive program in an International Destination

Godrej & Boyce Mfg. Co. Ltd – Appliance Division

UTI Asset Management Company

• Corporate Event of the Year

Mahindra Logistics

Bharat Bijlee Limited

• Most Innovative MICE Program of the Year – Glenmark Pharmaceuticals Limited
• Best Incentive program within India – Sharekhan Ltd
• Best Use of Technology Award – Netsurf Communications Pvt. Ltd.
• MICE & Travel Team of the Year – Reliance Industries Ltd.
• MILT Luxury Travel Super Hero – Panache World
• The TMC Over Achiever of the Year – SOTC

Commenting on the success of the congress and the awards, Sidh N.C, Director, QnA International says “Congratulations to all the winners for their astounding work they have displayed throughout the year. They truly inspire the MICE and travel industry who time and again curate the best initiatives and ideas to create memorable & personalized experiences, this continues to be a defining attribute to excel in MICE, business & luxury travel industry not only in India but across the globe.”