Korea and India can closely co-operate to create a new digital framework in the MICE (Meetings, Incentives, Conferences and Exhibitions) industry by combining their strengths, Young-seup Kwon, Consul-General of the Republic of Korea in Chennai, has said.
“I don’t think that non-personal MICE can totally replace the face-to-face MICE industry. So it is highly likely that the hybrid on-line and off-line MICE will become the future standard,” he said in his inaugural address at the webinar on ‘Future of MICE Travel Post COVID’, with a focus on South Korea, organised by Korea Tourism and The Hindu.
Korea and India could closely cooperate to create a new digital framework in the MICE industry by combining Korea’s strengths in the hardware and product research and development with India’s strengths in the software and IT solutions, Mr. Kwon said. This kind of synergy effects had already been proved in the Samsung R&D centre and LG Software in Bengaluru, and it should be extended to other areas and companies, he said.
Mr. Kwon also noted that India would have more Korean investments and become the regional and global manufacturing hub for the Korean companies, in line with India’s ‘Make in India and Make for the World’ policy.
Suresh Chukkapalli, Honorary Consul-General of the Republic of Korea, Telangana, and Chairman Emeritus, Phoenix Group, said India and Korea had many things in common in terms of culture and Korea was one of the safest countries and of late, filmmakers were encouraged to go and shoot in Korea.
Sandeep Dutta, Marketing Manager, Korea Tourism Organization, said Korea had a world-class infrastructure and one of the fastest internet connections.
An encouragement
At a panel discussion, Aikta Tyagi, vice-president, Special Events and Facilities, Amway India Enterprises, said the company used the MICE as a tool to incentivise its distributors. Ashok Jaiswar, Group Head, Marketing B2C and B2B, Greaves Cotton Limited, said MICE was used to motivate and encourage the company’s retail and front-line teams.
Shefali Khalsa, Head, Brand and Corporate Communication, SBI General Insurance, said the exhibitions component of the MICE had been worst affected by the lockdown to curb COVID-19. However, the MICE industry would bounce back with the coming of the festival season.
