BHUBANESWAR: The Ministry of Tourism has identified Bhubaneswar as one of the 20 cities to be developed as a meetings, incentives, conferences and exhibitions (MICE) destination to boost tourism business round the year.
As per the Ministry’s proposed action plan, the Temple City will be among the six cities to be taken up for development as a MICE destination in the second phase. The other cities prioritised in the indicative list for development in phase-II are Agra, Udaipur, Pune, Thiruvananthpuram and Varanasi. Ahead of formulation of a draft national strategy and roadmap for development of rural tourism - an initiative towards Atmanirbhar Bharat - the Tourism Ministry has invited feedback/comments/suggestions from stakeholders including the State government before June 30, 2021.
A State-level MICE promotion committee will be set up under Chief Secretary comprising representatives of relevant government departments and industry stakeholders. The State Tourism department will convene the meetings of State MICE promotion committee and the Directorate of Tourism will be the coordinator. The draft action plan has proposed for setting up of a State and city-level MICE bureau to look after promotional activities. The MICE bureaus will act as single point of contact for those seeking information and facilitation for organising events.
The MICE bureaus will be professionally run by full time individuals. The bureau will be headed by a Chief Executive Officer. He/she will be assisted by a set of managers in marketing and intelligence, bidding and destination with requisite support staff.
Over the past decades, MICE industry has been recognised as a significant market segment and an important contributor to State and national economies. It not only gives a boost to economy in the form of income generation but creates huge employment opportunities in hospitality service sectors, the draft proposal said.
The Ministry of Tourism will prepare a detailed National Action Plan in consultation with relevant ministries, state governments and industry stakeholders for implementation of the strategy.
Action plan