The Ministry of Tourism has announced a major push to scale up India’s Meetings, Incentives, Conferences, and Exhibitions (MICE) sector, aiming to position the country as a global leader in the tourism and events ecosystem. The announcement was made at the South India Thought Leaders Conference held in Chennai, organised by the Indian Exhibition Industry Association in collaboration with the Ministry.
Speaking at the event, Suman Billa, Additional Secretary and Director General, Ministry of Tourism, emphasized the need to place India prominently on the global MICE map. With world-class venues such as Bharat Mandapam, Yashobhoomi, and Jio World Centre, and MICE being prioritized under the Incredible India campaign, the Ministry aims to elevate at least 10 Indian cities—particularly in South India—into global MICE destinations. India currently holds only 5% of the global USD 850 billion MICE market. Establishing autonomous city-level convention promotion bureaus is seen as a critical step to strengthen India’s presence and catalyse growth across MSMEs, hospitality, and services sectors.
T. Christuraj, Director, Department of Tourism and Managing Director, Tamil Nadu Tourism Development Corporation, highlighted Tamil Nadu’s strong infrastructure for conferences and exhibitions. He stressed the importance of expanding MICE tourism beyond Chennai to cities like Kanchipuram, Coimbatore, Madurai, Tiruchirappalli, and Salem, with infrastructure development being key to unlocking the sector’s full potential.
Dhawan from IEIA presented an industry overview, noting that the global MICE industry is projected to grow from USD 870 billion to over USD 1.4 trillion by 2030. India is emerging as a significant and rapidly growing player. The MICE Leaders Connect event brought together stakeholders from across southern states to chart a cohesive roadmap for the sector.
The conference saw active participation from MICE organisations, hospitality groups, venue operators, trade bodies, and senior state tourism officials. Discussions focused on institutionalising the MICE ecosystem and aligning it with India’s broader economic vision. Key speakers included Dr Rajendra KV, Commissioner, Department of Tourism, Karnataka; Amrapali Kata, Managing Director, Andhra Pradesh Tourism Development Corporation; Sikha Surendran, Director, Kerala Tourism and Managing Director, Kerala Tourism Development Corporation; Jyoti Kumari, Secretary, Tourism, Andaman & Nicobar Islands; Gary Khan, CEO, Hyderabad Convention Visitors Bureau; and Vijay Sharma, Director, jwc GmbH.
Speakers underscored the need for cohesive policy frameworks, global collaboration, and capacity building. They called for the creation of dedicated city convention bureaus, a national MICE branding strategy integrated with global event calendars, and public-private partnerships to build globally competitive infrastructure. They also emphasized leveraging India’s planned growth in aviation, railways, and highways to support the MICE value chain.
With strategic infrastructure investments and renewed focus on destination branding, India is poised to emerge not just as a travel destination, but as a world-class hub for conferences and exhibitions.
