<div>At the moment, the towering new 16 storey Hyatt Regency in Manesar — or New Gurgaon as the owners euphemistically call the area — stands a bit forlornly on the Delhi-Jaipur highway.<br /><br />But Federico Mantoani, the genial general manager of the 451 room hotel, thinks this will be a buzzing conference and events destination pretty soon. “It’s the biggest conference venue in Haryana,” said Mantoani as he threw open the hotel's huge events space on Tuesday.<br /><br />The highway hotel claims to offer over 40,000 sq ft of meeting space. The Regency Ballroom spread over 20,000 sq ft can seat 3000 guests reception style while there are about eight breakout rooms in the banqueting area that can seat 100 people each.<br /><br />Mantaoni said the hotel which is located fairly close to both the bustling industrial corridor of Manesar as well as the corporate nerve centre of Gurgaon is targeting the lucrative MICE (meetings, incentives, conferences and exhibitions) market. He felt the venue had the potential to attract both domestic as well as international conferences.<br /><br />But is India really such a hot MICE destination? Especially with aggressive Bangkok and Dubai in the vicinity? And with our unfriendly visa policies?<br /><br />Optimists in the hospitality industry point to the Hyderabad success story. In 2012, Hyderabad was declared best city for MICE in Asia by MICE Report, the global business traveller magazine.<br /><br />Indeed, ever since the Hyderabad International Convention Centre which can host 8,000 delegate sessions came up, the city of pearls has seen a burst in MICE volumes and toppled Delhi's standing as India's meetings capital. Managed by French hotel operator Accor and jointly owned by Emaar Properties PJSC Dubai and Andhra Pradesh Industrial Infrastructure Corporation, the Hyderabad convention centre has helped fill up hotel rooms in the city.<br /><br />Indeed, a lot of hopes in the hotel and tourism industry are riding on the conventions business. Taking a cue from Hyderabad, the Tamil Nadu government has set up the Chennai Convention Centre that can hold up to 2000 delegates. A lot of new hotels have recently sprung up in the southern city scenting possibilities. The new ITC Grand Chola in Chennai has built sizeable convention space too.<br /><br />A recent HVS report points out how while they wait for the development of fullfledged convention centres across various cities, hotel developers are increasingly taking matters into their own hands and building hotels with extensive meeting and conference facilities.<br /><br />In Kochi, for instance, NRI businessman Yusuf Ali who has interests in hospitality and retail, has announced mega plans of building a 3,000 guest convention centre at Bolgaty islands.He has leased 30 acres of land from the Port Trust of Cochin for the project, which will also see a Lulu Grand Hyatt hotel coming alongside the convention centre. Of course, he's still battling for permissions. And also battling against all sorts of opposition.<br /><br />Mantaoni, who has been with the Hyatt group for 16 years including at the Grand Hyatt, Dubai, says that the chain is globally is betting big on MICE and it's no different in India. Ditto for Accor, which says it is pretty bullish on the convention market here. Apart from Hyderabad, it also operates the Lavasa International Convention Centre spread over 1.5 acres at the planned hill city of Lavasa.<br /><br />Delhi which till recently was leading the convention market in India with large events spaces such as the Vigyan Bhawan, Ashoka Hotel and India Habitat Centre has been comparatively slow in adding new supply though the Aerocity promises to fill the gap. However there is big question market about when this supply will actually come about.<br /><br />And India still has a long way to go. According to the International Congress and Convention Association, India is 27th in the global MICE tourism market. Although growing, it's still nowhere near Thailand's spectacular showing. Thailand grew its market at 19 per getting 895,224 MICE visitors in 2012.</div>
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