With revenues from the business and leisure segments proving unreliable, Asian airlines operating in India are aggressively tapping the meetings, incentives (dealer) conventions and exhibitions (MICE) segment travellers in India.
On average, 15 per cent of the turnover of an airline comes from the business segment, 65 per cent from leisure and 20 per cent from MICE. According to the Asian airlines, the MICE segment is growing and, during the off season, it is a major revenue puller.
According to travel agents, the reason is that the MICE segment has shown an impressive growth of 20-25 per cent in the past year. The airlines which are playing Pied Piper are Malaysia Airlines, Sri Lankan Airlines, Thai Airways and Cathay Pacific. They have seen growth rates ranging from 15-25 per cent in this segment in their Indian operations.
Elucidating the reasons for this growth in the MICE segment, Vikas Khanduri, regional manager (north India), outbound, Cox & Kings, told Business Standard:
