-Only Definite Cure Can Help Restart-
Key Takeaways:
Considering the rise in no of cases, India needs to wait.
“It's not easy to be positive but it needs guts to be practical”
The situation is Grim. MICE will take time to bounce back.
A vaccine is the only hope to rebuild confidence and to get the ball rolling
Virtual Space is good enough to keep in touch with clients but not the final solution.
The silver lining amid the situation is to shake hands with new prospective clients and start a conversation with them, hoping to conclude business in the coming times.
Meeting Attendees: Rajat Saran, Amit Chaudhary, Siddharth Gautam, Vicky Soin, Bindeshwari Prasad, Shiv Charan, Rajesh Raghavan, Ravinder Singh, Om Prakash Sahgal, Rajeshwar Yadav & Saachin Mannocha
The meeting started with a review of the present situation across cities. Rajat from Traaexplore Bangalore updated on the initiatives taken by his organization and put forth the positive aspect. They are working with corporate offering virtual solutions for now and the response is great so as to be in touch and cover some expenses. Moreover, some of the clients have started submitting queries for travel and MICE projects too. Amit Chaudhary, shared a few examples of a recent project where they tried delivering food to all attendees of virtual events so as to get the feel of attending the event from the comfort of their home. Ravinder Singh expressed concern about rising cases. Bindeshwari and Rajesh advocated the fact of being Practical as travelers will take time until being fully secured. Vicky Soin also shared his views and observations on the current situation.
One of the contributors expressed concern over countries banning Indian visitor's basis increase in no of cases. So we need to keep a close eye on the situation and no of cases has to come down so to keep ourselves eligible for international travel. Moreover, there were healthy discussions around opting for other means of business meanwhile. One of the well-renowned organization from Mice have stepped into the Grocery business and they were advocating the fact of being practical for the meantime. MICE is our main business and we can resume back to the same once the situation is promising.
On the major point of discussion was on Safe Mice- but right now the end consumer is not even thinking about the same. “Who is going to ring the bell” is the question. As corporate are not ready to take the risky. Hence rebuilding confidence in MICE/Travel or Events is totally related to safety and security which can be established through a definite cure.
Contributors also brainstormed on some of the future situations which might occur in the form of more easy supply hence denting the business. One of the examples quoted was of a recent event where the client opted to do it directly with end suppliers, skipping the supply chain. So we might have to see more such situations and we all shall be ready with our new strategies on case to case basis. “The New Game shall be a Test Match with 20-20 format” quoted by another contributor.
Although no one can predict when the situation will be back to normal, still most of the attendees agreed to the fact 2020 is gone and they might expect some business to start from March 2021. But a lot of factors will need to support this statement, factors well known to all, need not mention.
An example of a physical event in a nearby country was also discussed at length and there were a lot of mixed reactions to this case study. Executing one single event amid 100 days of Zero infection was not a big deal, as quoted by many.
Conclusion: Road is not easy to Restart. Contributing Factors will play a big role in taking this route. Virtual is not New and not widely accepted. Experimentation is the Key. Let’s move from Positive to being Practical.
