Goa Is Good For MICE Business But It Must Maintain Its Essence: GMs Conclave

The GMs Conclave panel discussion at the 36th edition of Express Food & Hospitality Expo, threw light on the opportunities and shortcomings of promoting Goa as a MICE destination

- Akshay Nayak

The Goa edition of Express Food & Hospitality Expo conducted the GMs Conclave, which discussed trends, drivers and opportunities in the Goa hospitality industry for the MICE segment. The panel discussion was titled, ‘Goa as a MICE market’.

The esteemed panelists included Gaurav Apte, GM, Goa Marriott Resort & Spa; Pracilo D'silva, GM, Resort Rio; Ranju Singh, Complex GM, Novotel Goa Shrem & Novotel Goa Resort and Spa; Shridhar Nair, GM, The Leela Goa; Hasanullah, GM, Lemon Tree Beach Amarante Goa; Cajetan Araujo, GM, W Goa; Rajendran Menon, GM, The Zuri White Sands Goa Resort & Casino; Rajeev Kumar, GM, The Fern Kadamba; Rajesh Malliya, GM, Hyatt Centric Candolim Goa; Victor Soares, Sr GM, Radisson Blu Resort Goa Cavelossim Beach and Gagan Sharma, GM, Lemon Tree Hotel Candolim, Goa.

Starting the panel discussion, Nair remarked, “It is true that Goa has seen a tremendous growth in MICE segment since the past 8-10 years. MICE has been 35 per cent for us and we are expecting it to cross the 42 per cent mark in our business. We now have plans to expand the MICE facilities to cater to the whole segment. Goa gets about seven to eight per cent of business and we are expecting it to grow at 11-12 per cent. We want go increase the share of MICE.”

Apte remarked that they have upped their focus on the MICE market. “At Goa Marriott Resort and Spa, India's first Marriott hotel, we were making 25 per cent from MICE market last year, and have taken efforts to achieve 38-39 per cent of business from MICE segment this year. It is no more true that MICE is price conscious,” he said.