International Congress and Convention Association’s (ICCA) annual statistics for the year 2014 on the number of rotating international association meetings hosted by countries and cities were released recently indicate overall stability in the MICE business. Paris, France retained its top city ranking alongside USA winning the top country ranking in the latest ICCA annual ratings. In the city rankings, Vienna swapped places with Madrid, moving up from three to two, and Berlin and Barcelona swapped places from four and five respectively. India holds the 35th position in the rankings worldwide and achieved ninth position in the Asia Pacific region, seeing 116 global business events in 2014. The major cities which hosted the events were Delhi, Hyderabad, Mumbai, Bengaluru, Chennai, Kolkata, Goa, Chandigarh, Jaipur and Cochin.
Hyderabad has emerged as one of the leading metros in India for MICE destinations, ranking only behind Delhi, and is on the fast track to becoming India’s Convention Capital. The city hosted 18 prestigious meetings in the year 2014. The significant contribution of Hyderabad International Convention Center is highlighted by the fact that 13 of these 18 meetings were hosted here.
The major catalyst for this growth is Hyderabad’s unique location and interesting benefits for both MICE and leisure travellers who can enjoy the world class infrastructure and experience warm hospitality and culture. Hyderabad International Convention Centre (HICC) is known to be one of the world’s biggest and finest convention centres and has played an important role in developing the city’s dream by contributing to position Hyderabad as the best MICE destination in South East Asia. In every aspect, be it infrastructure, service or technology, it compares with the best in the world. With a capacity to accommodate 50-9000 people, and equipped with 37 breakout rooms, in-house audio-visual technology, high ceilings and trained event management, HICC is the most sought after MICE destination in the country.