TN to expand MICE footprint beyond Chennai

chennai: india's meetings, incentives, conferences and exhibitions (mice) sector is poised for global prominence, driven by expanding infrastructure and strategic support from the government, said industry leaders at the south india thought leaders conference held here on tuesday.organised by the indian exhibition industry association (ieia) in collaboration with the union tourism ministry, the event witnessed calls for establishing city-level convention bureaus to boost india's presence in the usd 850 billion global mice market, where it currently holds a 5 per cent share.“india has world-class venues like bharat mandapam, yashobhoomi and jio world centre. our goal is to place at least 10 indian cities among the world's top mice destinations,” said suman billa, additional secretary and director general, ministry of tourism. he emphasised the need for autonomous mice bureaus at the city level to further accelerate sectoral growth.highlighting tamil nadu's potential, t. christuraj, director of tourism and md, tamil nadu tourism development corporation, said mice tourism in the state must extend beyond chennai to cities like coimbatore, madurai, tiruchirappalli, kanchipuram and salem.ieia southern region chairperson srikanth tg, and tourism heads from andhra pradesh, karnataka, kerala and andaman & nicobar underscored the importance of public-private collaboration, improved connectivity, and global event calendarization to make india a mice hub.with the mice market expected to cross usd 1.4 trillion by 2030, the conference drew key stakeholders including hoteliers, state officials, and venue operators to craft a growth roadmap.