MICE and Wedding Groups from India Key to Revival of Macao’s Business Next Year: Dency Mathew, MGTO
by Mugdha Gaonkar Business Events | December 17, 2020 | News
Macao Tourism Experiential Planner Reboot Camp
Experiential Planner, in partnership with Macao Tourism, recently concluded a webinar called Reboot Camp, featuring MICE and destination wedding experts, to discuss new opportunities to explore Macao for weddings and MICE programmes.
During this webinar, industry experts spoke about the successful MICE events in Macao and lauded the continuous efforts by the Government of Macao to curb the spread of COVID-19 and safeguard residents from it.
Experts believe that post the pandemic, MICE and incentive travel would be the first to bounce back in Macao, hopefully in 2021. Also, Macao being a visa-free destination for Indians, it would definitely be an advantage for corporates to plan events next year. Clubbing incentive travel with an ongoing cultural festival in Macao will definitely help in boosting MICE travel from India, the experts stated, adding that this is an excellent time to position Macao as an independent destination.
To facilitate this, the Macao Government Tourism Office (MGTO) is offering travel stimulation programmes to corporates in the form of half-day city tours and additional services. The Macao Government is also working on direct connections to Macao, which will definitely boost arrivals and longer stays.
Dency Mathew, India Account Manager - Trade, Marketing & PR, Macao Government Tourist Office said, “Continuous efforts are being made by the Government of Macao to curb the spread of COVID-19 and safeguard the residents from it. Only 46 cases have been reported so far and zero after June. MICE and wedding groups from India are going to play a very important role when it comes to revival of business next year. Since Macao is a visa-free destination for Indians, it’s definitely an advantage for the respective planners to schedule incentive travel and weddings. MGTO is offering travel stimulation programmes to groups ranging from 40-500 in size, in the form of half-day city tours and additional services. It is applicable for incentive travel and wedding groups.”
What event planners see in Macao
“One of the things that we would look at as a corporation while planning an event is a hybrid model, where technology plays a major role and we are sure Macao as a destination would offer that. Also, clubbing the incentive travel with an ongoing cultural festival in Macao will definitely help in boosting MICE travel from India as we would definitely like our dates of travel to coincide with a festival for an enhanced destination experience,” added Kaushik Sinha, Corp Comm, CSR & Corporate Services Dept, Magma Fincorp Ltd.
Navneeth Mohan, Director & CEO, Laqshya Live Experiences-India said, “The more exclusive places, which are less populated post-COVID, are going to thrive in the short-term. Hence, it’s an excellent time to position Macao as an independent destination, with its offerings, and capitalize on it. It’s great to learn that other than Hong Kong, groups can also take a connecting flight from Bangkok and Singapore. The next thing which is going to be quite relevant from a corporate standpoint is Sustainable Green Events post-COVID, and it can work very well with Macao in focus.”
Daryl Sheldon, Director, Seventy Seven Entertainment Pvt Ltd said, “As incentive travel was zero owning to the pandemic, there is a possibility that corporates may go for a longer incentive travel, say 4 nights, in 2021. Corporates would be thrilled to extend their itineraries next year if there are more activities available for Indian groups within or around Macao.”
Oum Pradutt, Founder & Managing Director, Phase 1 Events added, “Macao check-marks all the requirements of Indian groups when it comes to easy access to the destination, visa on arrival, etc. It takes less travel time, offers great night life, state-of-the-art convention centres, hotels, in addition to great culture, architecture and cuisine. Macao is definitely much more than Vegas of the East. It would be great to create an ecosystem of airlines, hotel properties, attractions, entertainment which is accessible to Indian MICE planners. It will not only be a smooth passage for corporates to come on board, but will also help in faster revival of the MICE business.”
Watch full webinar here:
Industry experts talk of successful MICE events in Macao and laud continuous efforts by the Government of Macao to safeguard the residents from COVID-19.