MICE industry in Dubai: Comprehensive Analysis

                           fig 1: Burj Al Arab ( Source:                                            www.dubai-architecture.info)                                                              

Dubai is one of the very fast emerging players in the global MICE industry along with the players like China and South East Asia. It’s the state of the art infrastructure and the cosmopolitan culture of Dubai that attracts the attention of the businesses and corporations across the globe for conducting their meetings and conferences in Dubai.

The given blog will analyze Dubai as a MICE location, recent accomplishments it had made in the given area and SWOT analysis for its MICE industry .

Along with petroleum, tourism, financial sector and real estate sector are very important revenue earners for Dubai. Known for its beautiful and exotic hotels and resorts, restaurants, spas, beautiful land marks, shopping malls and fashion stores Dubai attracts an immense number of tourists every year from all across the globe. In the 1st nine months of 2010 total number of hotel guests was six million (DTCM, 2010). DTCM or Dubai tourism and commerce marketing, pioneer body to take tourism related initiatives in Dubai has an ambitious target of attracting fifteen million foreign tourists in Dubai by 2015. (ttnworldwide.com, 2008)

Dubai attracts both, leisure as well as business tourists. In the past few years there has been considerable increase in business tourism related activities in Dubai. Dubai convention bureau a part of Dubai tourism and commerce marketing is taking strong drives and initiatives to attract business visitors from all around the world to conduct meetings and conferences at Dubai. Like its twin sister Abu Dhabi, Dubai is sending delegates and conducting promotional campaigns all across the globe along with attending international meetings for MICE industry like IBTMs and IMEX etc. In the next part the author will be discussing two very important pillar of the MICE industry in Dubai that is Dubai convention bureau (DCB) and Dubai world trade center (DWTC)

Dubai convention bureau or DCB is not directly involved in conducting meetings and conferences but gives helping hand to the MICE industry in Dubai by promoting it internationally and nationally as meting destination. The services of DCB include the following (DCB website, 2010): -

• Bid assistance: - with the help of its strong expertise it helps national and international host in going for the bid. The prime services include identifying issues that needs to be addressed, writing the bid, providing endorsements from key govt. as well as private bodies, working on the strength and weaknesses of other competing cites etc.

• Site selection: - it helps the host in inspecting convention centers, conference halls, hotels etc. Provides assistance with selection of PCOs (professional conference organizer) and meeting planners, provides local contacts.

• Helps in the promotional activities for the event.

• Provides other complimentary services like tour guides, information booths in meetings comprising over 1000 delegates, govt. contacts etc.

Dubai world trade center or DWTC is the leading destination for conducting exhibitions, conferences, meetings and corporate events. It also provides offices on rent to corporate and consulates from all around the globe. DWTC is considered as the focal point of business related activities in Dubai. In 2009 alone it was visited by some 1.24 Million conference and exhibition visitors (newzglobe.com, 2010)

In the concluding part the blog will attempt to do a brief SWOT analysis for the MICE industry in Dubai: -

Strengths

• State of the art infrastructure with plethora of international standard convention centers, hotels, logistic facilities etc. Dubai has around 566 hotels with more than 67,000 rooms. (DTCM, 2009)

• Crime rates are low.

• Cosmopolitan culture

• Epicenter of trade in Middle East.

• Pro- active government authorities.

• Well connected through air with different parts of the world.

• The leisure activities in Dubai are additional advantage for its incentive travel packages.

• Dubai is strategically placed between Asia and Europe where as it is close to Africa as well.

Weakness

• Dubai is becoming extremely expensive these days. In 2010 it was considered as the 55th most costly city in the world. ( Mercer, 2010)

• It has recently undergone a real estate bubble crash and hence the economy is still in a recovery mode.

• In spite of low crime rate there had been an increase in sex and drug related crimes. Some of them have got huge media publicity.

• Dubai lacks cultural sites.

Opportunities

• The increase in price of oil  will boost the economy.

• Dubai expects further growth in leisure tourism with around 15 Million foreign tourists visiting by 2015. This will surely be advantageous for business tourism in Dubai.

• Dubai is the business and tourism center of Middle East region which is high up on the geo-political and  business agendas of the West as well as emerging powers from the East.

Threats

• In recent times  lots of other cost efficient and exciting locations are rising in the Middle East such as Muscat, Doha and Kuwait City.

• Cities like Prague and Istanbul are attracting lot of tourist attention these days. These cities can offer cultural tourism as well as magnificent modern facilities at a much economical price to lure business tourists from across the world.

References:-

References –

1> DTCM press release, 2010, total number of hotel guest rises…….., available at < http://pr.dubaitourism.ae/2010/12/26/total-hotel-guests-in-dubai-touch-nearly-six-million-during-first-nine-months-of-2010-according-to-dtcm-report/ >

2> Ttnworldwide.com, 2008, Dubai to attract 15m tourists by 2015, available at < http://www.ttnworldwide.com/articles.aspx?id=1107&artid=8150 >

3> DCB website, 2011, Our Services, available at < http://www.dcb.ae/en/article/dcb-services/our-services.html >, accessed on Jan 2011

4> DTCM press release, 2010, total number of hotel guest rises…….., available at < http://pr.dubaitourism.ae/2010/12/26/total-hotel-guests-in-dubai-touch-nearly-six-million-during-first-nine-months-of-2010-according-to-dtcm-report/  >

5> Mercer, 2010, Worldwide Cost of Living survey 2010 - City rankings, available at < http://www.mercer.com/costoflivingpr#Top_50 >  

PEST & Trend analysis of tourism in India

Country Selected: - INDIA

Aim: - Given blog aims to do a PEST analysis and a trend analysis tourism in India. It will include a brief introduction followed by key trends in the Indian tourism market, their respective implications and major take away.

Introduction: - India as a country provides a huge potential for tourism to flourish. One of the oldest cultures of the world and a vibrant economy it has potential for various different kinds of tourism such as heritage cum cultural tourism, medical tourism, business tourism , eco cum adventure tourism, spiritual tourism, etc. The huge potential of India as a tourist hub can be derived the fact that it has a much diversified culture, different kinds of geographical terrains and a very rich cultural heritage. The potential gets an additional boost due to phenomenal growth of Indian economy in the recent years coupled by rise in average household income and investments in infrastructure. Right now also tourism plays a very important role in Indian economy. In the year 2009 valued at 41.73 billion English Pounds it constituted 6% of the Indian gross domestic product. It constitutes 5.8% of the total employment in India and employs 17.4 million individuals. But still the figures are very dismal given the kind of potential Indian tourism has. Though the market penetration of Indian tourism is still very low but can grow by leaps and bounds provided proper strategy is built into operation.

Indian Tourism: Trend Analysis

• In 2007 five million international tourists visited India; this figure is expected to touch ten million in 2010.

• Indian economy very fast in between 2002 and 2007. The average household income grew by 14% there by giving a boost to domestic tourism.

• Total tourist movement had doubled in the last seven years.

• In 2009 the total revenue earned from foreign tourist was approximately 10.5 billion British pounds (6.0 % of total exports). According to travel and tourism competitiveness review this figure is expected to grow to 31.5 billion English pounds in the next ten years.

• According to travel and satellite research (part of World travel & tourism council) the demand of travel and tourism with in India is going to increase by 8.2%. This growth rate is 3rd highest in the whole world.

• Indian hotel industry is adding 90,000 rooms per year.

• Capital Investment in the Indian tourism sector will increase by 8.8% per year. With this rate it can be expected that total investment will be around 59 billion English pounds in the given sector.

• Medical tourism is growing very fast in India. Growing at a Compound annual growth rate (hence forth will be referred as CAGR) of 19% it is expected that by 2012, 1.1 million medical tourists will be visiting India. Growing at a CAGR of 27% the net value of medical tourism will be approximately 1.5 billion English pounds.

• The present value of Indian tourism which is 41.73 billion English pounds is expected to increase by 200% in the next 10 years.

• It is expected that by 2019 there will be 40 million individuals in India employed in the tourism sector. (An increase of approximately 133% )



Internal and External audit of Indian tourism

External audit (uncontrollable factors):-

Macro Factors

• Political factors:-

1. India has a stable democratic government. This ensures stability for the tourism industry.

2. The centre has a specific ministry of tourism whose prime purpose is to device plans and strategies for the welfare of Indian tourism industry.

3. India as a nation is divided into various smaller state and every state has its own tourism department. These departments often fight with each other in ensuring higher tourist inflow into their respective states. Though this competitiveness ensures efficiency in the individual states but is detrimental for overall tourism as a whole. Since India is a diverse nation with every state having something to offer along with competition what is really essential is proper coordination between various states.

• Economic Factors:-

1. India is among the fastest growing economies of the world. In the last decade its GDP has grown with almost 7% per annum. A higher economic growth ensures rise in annual income hence increase in domestic tourism.

2. A higher economic growth also ensures increase, in investments in the infrastructure, promotional expenditures, construction of newer tourist avenues, beautification of cities and towns etc. These ensure a boost to the tourism industry.

3. High growth results in higher number of business visits.

• Socio –Cultural :-

1. India a diverse nation with end numbers of different languages, cultures, traditions, cuisines; make it an ideal destination of cultural tourism. The depth of diversity can be concluded from the fact that India has more than 22 constitutional languages and 1600 dialects.

2. Indian culture has always emphasized on respecting and entertaining their guests very well. The Sanskrit Shloka “ATHITHI DEVO BAHVAH” (guest is god) is the essence of Indian tradition. This warmth and love for their guests has always been appreciated by tourists in general and foreign ones in particular.

3. India has a vibrant and rich history of cultures that can also attract many culture lovers and scholars for further studies and exploration.

4. Due to 200 years of British rule English is an integral part of Indian education system. Most of the people at India can communicate and understand in English. This gives an added advantage to India in comparison to its neighboring counterparts in attracting foreign tourist.



• Technological:-

1. At present Information Technology plays a very important role in tour planning and its implementation. Starting from searching the tourists spots to booking hotels and transportation to transferring money every where web based platforms are used. In the Indian context there are plenty of such web based portals such as makemytrip.com, yatra.com etc. India being an IT superpower is capable enough for future development of such avenues in a very cost efficient and technologically superior way.

2. In spite of India being an It superpower the overall home pc penetration is still low at just 26%. This disassociates a very large chunk of domestic users from using such web based portals.

3. For the success of tourism it is essential that a country must be equipped with state of the art transportation facilities. It must have very efficient transportation system that can help in transporting both large volume of people and goods in a very cost effective, fast and comfortable fashion. Thanks to its huge population and late opening up of economy its transportation system still not of international standard.

Analysis of MICE business in China

                                                                         
In the last three blogs the author attempted to give a brief introduction to business tourism & MICE industry. Now he will like to take this further and will like to delve deeper into it. In the next stage he will attempt writing on the trend of MICE industry in various individual regions. Along with the traditional hot destinations such as Europe and USA there are lots of new places such as Middle East, China, Singapore are emerging as favorable destination for business tourism and MICE activities. The next few blogs will like take a deeper look at these individual places along with the socio economic conditions and developing industry trends in the background. The very 1st one will be dealing with the neighboring China.


Ever since the Chinese economy was opened in the year 1978 China has shown phenomenal growth in the past three decades. Known as the factory of the world it holds a very strong influence in both world geo-politics as well as world economy. Al most all the major companies in the world has their manufacturing unit in China. Because of its investor friendly government policies, low cost of labor and strongly developing human resource it is considered as one of the most favored location for investment. Under such circumstances the importance of MICE industry increases many folds because of following reasons:-

• It is a lucrative business in itself that is a source of an end number of high end employments.

• Business tourism can stimulate leisure tourism as well.

• Since it brings in investors and business houses from all over the world it can stimulate investments in other sectors.

• It can play a very important role in local as well as regional developments. Since primarily it does not brand a whole country but a particular region or a city to the investor & business communities.

• Can stimulate govt. initiatives in building state of the art infrastructure.

The current status of Chinese MICE industry:-

• The Chinese MICE industry has grown rapidly in last 10 years. Most of the 1tier and 2 tier cities have state of the art exhibition halls of international standards. ( Michael Dreyer, 2010)

• The various kind of MICE activities include: Local events where local products are displayed to local buyers, Import events where foreign products (both capital goods as well as luxury products) are displayed to local consumers and buyers and sourcing events where Chinese exporters show their goods to sold to the international buyers. (Michael Dreyer, 2010)

• Important venues for MICE activities in China are Sanghai, Beijing, Hong Kong, Dongugan, Guangzhou etc.

• Business tourism plays an important role in inbound tourism in China.

• According to international Congress and convention association ( ICCA) by 2020 with 137 million business travelers China will account 8.6% of Chinese business tourism market.( Dongugan news, 2006)

• China is the third largest business travel market. ( BEDOUK.COM, 2010)

• Chinese government taking strong proactive steps to boost MICE industry in China. Recently in august the govt. had established two organizations, ICCA China committee & MICE advisory committee for covering eastern half of Chinese capital. (Travel weekly.com, 2010)

• China national convention center was opened in October 2009. With a gross floor area of 270,000 square meters its main purpose is to provide international standards for conducting exhibitions, conventions and meetings. It is expected that in the 1st five years of its operation it will be conducting some 173 events with almost 3, 20,000 attendees. Out of this 66 will be of international or regional association congresses and 56 will be national level meetings. (Rob Davidson, 2009).

• Since travel and tourism industry as well as MICE industry are growing very fast in China hence it complements each other.

SWOT Analysis:-

Strength:-

• China has invested hugely in the infrastructure recently. They have got state of the art infrastructure which includes top quality hotels, transportation, telecommunication, well equipped convention centers etc.

• China has a cost advantage since it is comparatively much economical than its western counterparts.

• China today stands in the centre of world economics and politics. Hence this is an added advantage for its prospect as a venue for meetings, events etc.

• China , a vast nation can provide a wide range of delight to its visitors ranging from its magnificent monuments, aesthetic oriental culture, exotic food, landscapes to state of the art modern amenities such museums, theme parks, sports complex etc.

• China is also a hot destination for travel and tourism business. This is an added advantage for its MICE industry.

• Traditionally most of the events have taken place in the same old European cities such as London, Dublin, and Paris etc. In contrast to them China can provide an all together new experiences to the business travelers. (Essaysforstudent.com, 2009)

• World class events like Beijing Olympics 2008 & world expo 2010 have been conducted in China. This had reaffirmed Chinese strength in handling big events successfully and also recognizes the fact that it had travelled a long way as a nation.

Weakness:-

• Language is still a major concern in China. Most of the Chinese still don’t speak or even understand English.

• For China MICE is still a new idea. In Europe and USA, MICE activities are happening since hundred years where as in China it had started in the last ten years only. Hence China is still undergoing through its learning curve and it has got many things to learn. It even does not have too many organizations to take care of these things in contrast to USA or Europe. ( Essaysforstudent.com, 2009)

Opportunities:-

• Most of the transnational organizations such as Honeywell, GM, and Kodak etc have their regional head quarter at China. Hence it can be added advantage since they will prefer conducting annual meetings at Chinese locations. ( Essaysforstudent.com, 2009)

• The China considered as the next super power, had got strong hold in the world geo-politics as well as geo-strategy. China has a very prominent role to play in the new world order that will be multi polar in nature. Hence this wide spread craze for China can act as a latent force in promoting China as a destination for MICE activities.

• East Asia and South East Asia themselves are under growing strong economic growth. There are lot of exciting business events happening in these areas. Being the strongest regional force China as a venue for MICE activities will always attract attention of regional industry players towards itself.

Threat

• So far in Asia Singapore is considered as the strongest MICE destination. Beating Singapore will always be a tough for the Chinese players.

• Lot of new players such as Dubai, Abu Dhabi, South Africa, India, Vietnam etc are joining the MICE bandwagon and can provide stiff competition to China.

• Players like India and Vietnam can be good alternative to China both in terms of cost efficiency as well as in terms of services.

• Though there is a China fever all across the world but at the same time there is a lot of reservations for China also because of its non democratic government, restrictions imposed on press etc. This kind of resentful thinking in some quarters of the world might deter some companies and associations from conducting events in China.

Reference:-

1. Michael D, 2010, The rapid growth of China’s MICE industry, CEI, available at < http://www.cei.asia/Weekly-highlightsarticle/2010_02/The-rapid-growth-of-Chinas-MICE-industry/38867>


2. Michael D, 2010, The rapid growth of China’s MICE industry, CEI, available at < http://www.cei.asia/Weekly-highlightsarticle/2010_02/The-rapid-growth-of-Chinas-MICE-industry/38867>


3. Dongugan news, 2006, South China’s MICE boosts business tourism, available at< http://www.newsgd.com/citiesandtowns/dongguan/news/200612140080.htm> < accessed on Jan, 2011>


4. Travelweekly.com, 2010, China develops MICE industry, available at < http://www.travelweekly.com.vn/regional-news/other/1753-china-develops-mice-industry>


5. Rob D., 2009, EIBTM trend analysis and market share report, p-20.


6. Essaysforstudent.com, 2009, Chinese Mice analysis, available at < http://essaysforstudent.com/print.html?essay=19072>


7. Essaysforstudent.com, 2009, Chinese Mice analysis, available at < http://essaysforstudent.com/print.html?essay=19072>


8. Essaysforstudent.com, 2009, Chinese Mice analysis, available at < http://essaysforstudent.com/print.html?essay=19072>

Analysis of the phenomenal growth of dubai in the last four Decades

fig 1: Palm islands (source: www.nakheel.com )                                                        

Dubai the second largest Emirate of UAE (United Arab Emirates) is considered as one of the top notch cities in the world. Known for its unique mix of extravagance, charm and elegance it equally attracts tourists as well as business travelers and professionals from all across the globe. But few decades back it was among the least developed nations in the world with economy primarily dependent on agriculture, animal husbandry and pearl trading. The turning point  for Dubai came in 1973 when oil and natural gas was discovered and from that point there was no looking back for the Emirate state. The following blog by the author will make an attempt in unwinding the success saga of Dubai and try deciphering various factors that helped morphing the desert state into such grandeur.

• Social and Political apparatus: - natural resources coupled with strong, visionary and stable administration can do real magic and nothing exemplifies this better than Dubai. Dubai as a state was formed in 1971 and since then it has constitutional monarchy. In early 1970s oil and natural gas was discovered in Dubai, and within a very brief time of 1973 to 82 when the oil price was very high  made huge economic development. The oil revenue was invested in developing economic and social infrastructure, providing high salaries, and in other social welfare schemes. This resulted in a very stable and peaceful political and social atmosphere (Mohamed Shihab). The ruling class of Dubai had understood the fact that since the overall oil resources in Dubai is just 1/20th of neighboring Abu Dhabi; state economy cannot depend on oil revenue for a much longer time. Hence they always emphasized on diversification of economy into various other alternative sectors such as trade, tourism, real estate, financial services etc. (Michael Matley and Laura Dillon, 2007 )

Factors that shaped the  growth journey of  Dubai

Oil and natural gas:- Oil and natural gas in Dubai was found in the 60s and since then had played a very important role in Dubai’s economy. In the time of 80’s 55% of Dubai’s GDP came from the oil sector but with time its significance kept on decreasing. It contributed, 10% of GDP in 2000, 5% in 2005 and just 2.1% in 2008. (Paul Holdsworth, 2010). The constant decrease in the contribution by the Oil and natural gas can be attributed to the fact the economy had diversified into various other sectors such as trade, tourism, real estate and finance etc. With the current estimate it can be predicted that the oil and natural gas resources in Dubai will not last much longer.

• Ports:- Dubai is one of the leading port cities in the world. After Hong Kong and Singapore it’s the 3rd largest re export center in the world. The 1st ever port namely port Rashid was constructed in 1972. Then in 1978 the Jebel Ali port was constructed. Jebel Ali is the biggest port in the Middle East and the biggest man made harbor in the world. The port is also surrounded by a major industrial zone having some 5,500 companies from 120 countries and an international airport. The leading port companies in Dubai  were Dubai ports authority and Dubai ports international which later on merged to form Dubai ports world or DP world. DP world operates 49 ports across Dubai and internationally and handles approximately 50 Million TEUs #. (Abdul Basit, 2010)

• Business and commerce:- Dubai has evolved as center of commerce for the Middle East. Dubai’s political apparatus had played a very important role in this transformation. The earlier point discusses about the Jebel Ali free zone where companies from all around the world get tax benefits and hassle free liberal environment to conduct business. Another important step taken was the construction of DWTC (Dubai World Trade Center). The 39 storey building was the pioneer center in conducting business meetings, exhibitions, conferences and corporate events in the Middle East region (though today other centers like ADNEC are catching up fast). DWTC is home to many corporate offices and embassies also, hence played an important role in exposing Dubai to the business and investor communities spread across the globe. Dubai had invested hugely in constructing business parks for dedicated industries. One such park was opened in 1999 namely Dubai Internet City. It is home to the offices of some of the leading software and IT companies in the world such as Microsoft, IBM, Oracle, Sun Microsystems, Cognizant, Siemens etc. Similarly other such business parks include Dubai Media City, Dubai Knowledge Village, Dubai Land, Dubai Health Care city, Dubai Studio City etc. By 2006 more than one fourth of the fortune 500 companies in the world were having its base at Dubai. (Michael Matley and Laura Dillon, 2007 )

• Tourism:- With time Dubai had morphed into one of the biggest tourist destinations in the world. Many people even consider it giving fight to Las Vegas as the tourist capital of the world. With lots of state of the art hotels, spas, restaurants, fashion boutiques, shopping malls and exciting activities like dessert safari, ice skating and camel racing etc it is today one of the most preferred tourist destination in the world. The emirate state was visited by some seven Million visitors in 2007 and close to 10 million visitors in 2010. With more than 450 hotels and lot of projects still under way Dubai targets 15 Million visitors by 2015. Dubai also attracts a lot of business travelers from all across the globe to conduct their meetings, exhibitions and other corporate events in Dubai. The credit for this can be given to the state of the art convention centers like DWTC and the heavy marketing done by the DTCM (Dubai tourism and commercial marketing) in promoting Dubai as a business travel destination. Dubai’s journey as a successful tourist destination started in the mid 90s. In 1997 the Jumeriah group was established which develops and operates luxury hotels in Dubai as well as in other parts of the world. The Dubai govt. had invested in many of the magnificent projects like the Burj Al Arab, Palm Islands, Snow Mountains, and Jumeirah Medina resorts etc. These coupled with heavy marketing and an efficient airline in the form of Emirates airline gave a huge boost to the tourism sector in Dubai. (Michael Matley and Laura Dillon, 2007)

•  Financial sector:- Financial sectors are other important constituents of the Dubai’s economy. In 2005 financial sector contributed 10% to the GDP of the Dubai. There is also a strong correlation between the real estate sector and financial sector. Dubai aspires to be the financial hub of Middle East. The Dubai Financial Market commenced its operation in 2000. It received a FDI inflow of 12 Billion US dollars in 2005.

Why Dubai?

One important question that always strikes is why Dubai had been so successful in making changes so fast where as other Arab states which equally looks attractive on paper could not make such an impact. There are following reasons for that:-

• Speed: - Dubai is well known for implementing its projects with phenomenal speed. From project launch to its implementation things are done with great speed.

• Truly cosmopolitan culture: - Dubai is a place where people from different part of the world came and mingled with each other in a much open fashion. Where as in other Arab states the expatriates were restricted to their own boundaries, in Dubai they mingled well with the locals as well as other expatriates giving an unique cultural edge to Dubai. Other states in the Middle East lack such an exciting cultural platform.

• Safe haven in the midst of a politically disturbed region: - Middle East is high up on the strategic agendas of the whole world because of its natural resources, but at the same time political and socio economic systems of these nations make others a bit apprehensive of them. Dubai was unique in this regard because in between a politically disturbed mosaic it provided a safe and stable place which attracted every one, investors, tourists, professionals , diplomats, sportsmen, artists alike towards itself from all over the world.

• Transparency: - While other gulf states are notorious for their transparency in govt. activities Dubai had tried hard to build govt. institutions which are very transparent and open in its approach.

It was the state of the art infrastructure, open and cosmopolitan culture, stable and efficient government, zero business and corporate taxes that made Dubai as one of the most sought after places in the world. The journey of Dubai in the last four decades is one of the most phenomenal success stories of the world but it had its own drawbacks. In the last two years Dubai had undergone a real estate bubble burst that had impacted its economy badly, fate of many of its big real estate projects seem to be doomed. The Emirate state had constantly been accused of human right abuses of its expatriate workers, as well as lack of quality in many of its projects. Last year with the help of financial support from Abu Dhabi its economy seems to be recovering strong  and atmosphere again seems to be optimistic. Dubai has a long way to go. The given blog analyzed the success story of Dubai so far where as the next one will analyze the future growth prospects and strategy for Dubai.

# The twenty-foot equivalent unit (often TEU or teu) is an inexact unit of cargo capacity often used to describe the capacity of container ships and container terminals

Reference:-

1> Mohamed S, Economic development of UAE, United Arab Emirates: a new perspective, P-250, available at < http://www.uaeinteract.com/uaeint_misc/pdf/perspectives/12.pdf  >

2> Michael M and Laura D, 2007, Dubai Business Strategy: past, present and future, Harvard business school,P-1, available at < http://belfercenter.ksg.harvard.edu/files/matly_paper1.pdf >

3> Paul H, 2010, Oil Makes Up 2% of Dubai GDP Post-Diversification, gulfjobsmarket.com, available at < http://news.gulfjobsmarket.com/oil-makes-up-2-of-dubai-gdp-post-diversification-7861765-news >

4> Abdul B, 2011, DP World container volume hits 
all-time high, Khaleej Times Business, available at < http://www.khaleejtimes.com/biz/inside.asp?xfile=/data/business/2011/January/business_January436.xml§ion=business >

5> Michael M and Laura D, 2007, Dubai Business Strategy: past, present and future, Harvard business school,P-3 to 4, available at < http://belfercenter.ksg.harvard.edu/files/matly_paper1.pdf >

6> Michael M and Laura D, 2007, Dubai Business Strategy: past, present and future, Harvard business school,P-3 to 4, available at < http://belfercenter.ksg.harvard.edu/files/matly_paper1.pdf >

Important players involved in MICE industry

                                                            

In the upcoming blog the author will attempt to describe the functionalities of various important players involved in business tourism. These are as follows:-

1> PCOs (MSM hospitality services, 2010): - stands for professional conference organizers which take care of organizing & managing conferences and provide all the related services. Basically PCOs provide three types of services:-

a) Pre conference:- this includes all the pre conference activities such as

• Deciding of venue, time and duration for conference (if not specified).

• Decides on the speakers coming for the conference.

• Booking of hotels, arrangement of logistic support etc.

• Security

• Protocol

• Designing of stationeries, brochures, invitation cards etc.

• Media and public relation activities to provide publicity to the event.

• Budgeting.

b) In conference:- this includes all the activities happening during the conference such as

• Providing audio visual instruments during conference.

• Registrations

• Floral arrangements

• Stand up displays

• Hall management

c) Post Conference:- this includes all the post conference activities

• Preparation of final reports

• Providing some tours to the participants

• Winding up of conference etc.

2> Meeting planners:- meeting planners take care of all the minute details of the meetings ranging from deciding on venue and speakers to taking care of all the support functions such as logistics, audio visual supports, IT supports, documentation, reporting, marketing etc. Many organizations such as hotels, corporate, government organizations have their own meeting planners where as many take services of private meeting planners.

3> Business travel agency: - are travel agents which give tour and travel solutions to business customers. Services include selling of products like air tickets, logistics, hotel rooms etc.

4> Dedicated conference centers: - these centers such as Dubai world trade center have all the basic services required for conduction of meetings and conferences. It includes state of the art halls, technological &IT infrastructure, meeting rooms, hotels in nearby vicinity etc. These days use of such centers are in vogue because not only are they cost effective in contrast to exotic resorts and hotels but also they provide better atmosphere for such events to take place.

5> Events for MICE industry: - events like “GIBTM” ( gulf incentive business travel and meeting exhibition, and “EIBTM” conducted annually provide platform for buyers and sellers related to the MICE industry. Buyers include associations, corporate houses, government agencies, PCOs, event planners, where as sellers include exhibition and meeting centers etc which provide venue for such events to take place.

Blue Ocean Strategy for Hinduism

                                                                 
As a part of his idea of promoting Hinduism as a successful brand the author attempts to apply blue ocean strategy on Hinduism. For those who do not know what Blue Ocean strategy stands for, it should be made clear that it is a very revolutionary and innovative business strategy plan that attempts to capture the non customer segment of a brand by providing them value innovation. For further idea one can refer to the blog articles written by the author. Here goes the link:- http://themanagmentguru.blogspot.com/search/label/BLUE%20OCEAN%20STRATEGY


Three kinds of non customers for Hinduism1:-

a) 1st tier: - Hindus themselves who have some idea of Hinduism and also need of spirituality. They do follow some rituals but often due to busy schedule and lack of interest their own understanding is very stereotyped and superficial2.

b) 2nd tier: - A large chunk of agnostics, atheists, scientologists, religious humanists and people from other religions with very feeble religious inclinations. These people too have some spiritual inclination but find the current schools of religion as illogical, dogmatic and impractical.

c) 3rd Tier: - This includes religious zealots and fundamentalist from various religious faiths and hardcore atheists.



Value Innovation: - Hinduism the oldest religion of the world is also the most complex one. This complexity arises from the fact that there is not a single set of beliefs that is supposed to be followed rather there are end no. of different schools of thoughts that constitute the religion as a whole. It consists of thousands and thousands of gods, scriptures, chants, mantras, rituals, meditation techniques etc. Understanding Hinduism as a whole is not only tough but quite impractical. Hence in order to market it to its non customer base it is quite essential that rather than selling it as a whole only specific parts be promoted. Specific ideas those are relevant to the modern people. Hence an ERRC3 frame work will be applied:-

Eliminate:-

a) All types of social practices that promote social evils such as cast based discriminations, exploitation of women in the name of religion, sacrifices etc. Also scriptures directly supporting such ideas should be discarded.

Reduce:-

a) Priesthood: - though priesthood is important for religious conservation but too much reliance on priesthood can be detrimental. Many a times it had been seen that inspired by personal benefits they communicate wrong signals to devotees which leads to misconception. Also they are not hesitant of molding the meaning of scriptures for personal gain.

b) Rituals: - Hinduism is a highly ritualistic religion and many times there abundance eclipses the real knowledge and enlightening practices. Too much of rituals give it a paganic shape. Hence it also needs to be curtailed to some extent.

c) Things that raise superstition in the name of religion.

d) Emphasis on Hindu mythologies.

Raise:-

a) Stand alone practices like Yoga, chanting meditations, dynamic meditations etc.

b) Emphasis on higher levels of philosophies embedded in Hinduism.

c) Alliance with other related religious faiths such as Buddhism, Jainism, Sikhism4 etc.

d) Emphasis on classical and logical ideas like classical advaita, Karmic theories etc.

e) Promotion of Hindu art crafts and symbols. Use of logos and symbols on apparels, desktops etc5.


Create:-

a) Professionally designed spiritual cum religious tour packages that will not only include touring religious places but also lot of yoga sessions, spiritual discourses, debates etc.

b) Hindu religion is a very symbolic religion where everything has a strong symbolic meaning but unfortunately over the period of time the symbols have taken the front stage and the real meaning have lost. For the marketing of religion to the intellectual circles it’s essential that the real meaning must be communicated. Exp: - Krishna is a mythological character but in reality it defines a kind of consciousness, a perfectly enlightened and pure consciousness but over the period of time the mythological dimension has completely surpassed the true meaning. Hence a large amount of discourses, lectures along with written documents should be produced to communicate the real meaning of symbols.

c) Strong emphaisis on liberal sides of hinduism which believes in individual liberty, freedom and openness.



(Note:-

1:- Initial focus should be to capture tier1 and tier 2 non customers.

2:- There knowledge lacks the intellectual dimension of Hinduism and is often restricted to visiting temple and following rituals.

3:- eliminate, reduce, raise and create framework. A blue ocean strategy framework used for giving new innovative values to the non customers.

4:- Emphasis should be only in showing similarity. This should not result in any controversy.

5:- Stuffs that can hurt religious sentiments should be avoided.

)

Business tourism: Current trend analysis

               
Business tourism is also known as "MICE" industry which stands for meetings, incentive travels, conference and exhibitions industry. Over the period of time "MICE" is becoming larger and larger as an industry, not only is it a lucrative business in itself but it has got great strategic implications since it influences investment and other businesses as well. It had been calculated that a one dollar investment in business tourism can bring revenue of 8-10 dollars in other industries. The following blog will take a look at the current trends in the business tourism:-



• MICE activities in a particular industry type are directly linked to the performance of that sector. If a particular sector shows boom then it can be concluded that there will be more number of activities in that sector.

• The present economic downturn had badly hit the MICE industry. It had resulted in cutting down of budgets for tours and travels hence reducing such events all together.

• Since the supply is more than the demand it is more of a buyers’ market. Buyers don’t prefer directly signing deals; rather they prefer matching various prices. More over in order to get economy of scale they prefer dealing with lesser number of suppliers.

• The customer base of “MICE” industry does not only consist of corporate sectors but also various kinds of national, international and government associations which keeps on meeting regularly. These associations consist of professionals from particular industry type such as Medical Science, Law, IT. In spite of economic downturn faced by corporate sector these associations have witnessed a decent growth which is a good signal for the “MICE” industry.

• Another segment that can provide a potent business for the “MICE” industry is the so far neglected “SMREF” segment. ( it stands for the Social, military, religious, educational and fraternal segments which is generally unaffected from the economic conditions)

• These days rather than conducting meeting at exotic resorts and city centers companies prefer dedicated conference centers which have all the dedicated services available at economic prices.

• Newer destinations like China and Middle East are becoming more and more popular for meetings and conferences.

Refernce:-
1> EIBTM 2009 industry trends and market analysis, 2009 , available at < http://www.iccaworld.com/dbs/eibtm/files/3464_eibtm_industry_report_print_2009_v6_notrim.pdf>

2> KPMG business outlook report, 2009

A brief introduction to Dubai's Strategic Plan 2015

fig 1: Burj Khalifa, Dubai, world's tallest building (source: worldpropertychannel.com) 

After analyzing the vision 2030 for Abu Dhabi, the author will now attempt  analyzing the strategic plan of Dubai, the second biggest emirate of UAE, known for being a perfect blend of economic dynamism and cosmopolitan charm. The strategic plan, namely Dubai 2015 #, had been devised in 2005 and aims to devise the future growth strategies and patterns for Dubai.

Five guiding principles of the strategic plan are as follows:

• Economic development: In 2000, Dubai intended to become a US $ 30 billion economy by 2010, but with a strong GDP growth of 13% (non oil gross domestic product or GDP growth of 15.1%) it achieved the milestone halfway itself, with a US $ 37 Billion GDP in 2005. With a per capita income of $ US 31,000; higher than developed states like Hong Kong and Singapore; it had recorded a higher growth than emerging giants like China and India ; even better than developed economies like, Singapore, USA and Ireland. Dubai had reduced its reliance on petroleum sector, with an annual contribution of 5% to the GDP, from 10% in 2000; had successfully diversified into various other alternate sectors like, construction, tourism, financial services, trade and logistics with service sector contributing 74% of GDP. The future of Dubai seems to be very strong with foreign investments coming into the Emirates, availability of plenty of land for construction projects, strong leadership, booming tourism sector etc. As a part of its 2015 plan it aims to sustain an annual growth of 11% along with achieving  a per capita income of US $ 44,000 and gross domestic product of US $ 108 Billion by 2015, annual increase of 4% in labor productivity, development of new sectors with strong competencies etc. The plan will focus on sectors like; tourism, financial service, trade, transportaion and storage, professional services and construction (where Dubai has relative strength and the sectors themselves have strong potential for global growth in the nearby future)and developing  enablers like; raising the productivity of economic sectors; raising the capability and efficiency of work force; science, technology and innovation capacity building; managing the rising cost of living index; improving the quality of lifestyle; building stronger and better policies; aligning laws and regulation with international standard. (dubai.ae, 2007)

• Social development: Social development is another area, where Dubai had made remarkable progress, with facilities like education, health and other social services to nationals at almost no price and plans seeking further investments in various social development sectors. The strategic plan 2015 aims; preserving the national identity of Emirate by, regulating the flow of immigration to maintain demographic balance, conducting cultural awareness programs, improving the proficiency of Arabic language etc; Increase nationals participation in work force and society by, equipping them with better educational , professional and life skills; improve the achievements of students and ensure all nationals have quality education by, implementing stronger education governance sector, enforcing better transparency and accountability for schools, improving the curriculum to meet international standards, upgrading teacher’s qualification and raising awareness towards education amongst the nationals; Improve the quality of health care service and status of health status of nationals by, improving the health sector governance structure, implementing better health insurance policies, encouraging hospitals to go for international accreditations etc; Ensuring quality social service be provided to meet the needs of population by, improving the social service sector governance structure, human resource development of the workforce, migrating the social service delivery model from “welfare” to “social development” etc; ensure equality and acceptable working conditions for the workforce and attract and retain required talent by, improving labor regulations, providing environment to attract and retain better talents, increasing awareness among the employers and employees regarding their legal rights etc; Enrich the cultural environment by, improving governance for cultural sectors, upgrading regulatory frameworks of cultural organizations, investing in infrastructure for conducting cultural activities, promoting cultural activities etc. (Dubai.ae, 2007)

• Infrastructure, land and environment: one of the factor that played a crucial role in Dubai’s success, had been its magnificent infrastructure and  in order to support its anticipated economic growth, it had further  plans to make huge investments in infrastructure, with main focus on, urban planning, energy sector, road and transportation and environment. Strategic plan aims ; optimizing land use and distribution while preserving natural resources by, optimizing existing land use policies, provision of medium and low income housing through govt. interventions, ensuring adequate facilities for community centers, enhancing the existing housing policies; provision of adequate energy, electricity and water supplies to meet Dubai’s growth demand by developing integrated policy frameworks, establishment of more installed power generation plants and desalination plants etc; provision of an integrated road and transportation system to facilitate mobility and ensure safety by, enhancing public transport and road networks, reducing private car transportation, implementing safety audits, installing modern technologies to cope with accidents, increasing awareness regarding safe driving ; maintenance of Dubai’s status as a safe, clean, attractive and sustainable destination by, updating and aligning environmental policies with best policies, increasing environmental awareness, integrating overall infrastructure development strategy with environmental focus to achieve sustainable growth and development. (dubai.ae, 2007)

• Security, Justice and safety: Dubai is one of the safest cities in the world, and the strategic plan emphasizes on the fact that, in order to achieve its ambitious plans , needs to built further upon the existing security and justice apparatus. Dubai wants to achieve its security, justice and safety related goals by; ensuring safety of every one that is nationals, residents and visitors; raising the standards of security force as one of the best globally; ensuring equality, quality, accuracy and clarity in judgment process; ensuring easy access of justice by all etc. (dubai.ae, 2007)

• Governance excellence: The govt. machineries, known for its speed of execution of projects, had played a very important role in the success story of Dubai. As a part of its strategic plan, Dubai wants to excel further in govt. excellence to bolster its ambitious goals. It intends to implement a wide range of initiatives including; implementing performance management mechanisms, streamlining strategy building across various departments, building capabilities for improved policy making, ensuring principles of accountability and transparency be streamlined across various govt. departments, linking budget to performance and priorities, transforming financial system of individual departments from cash to accrual basis, establishing partnership with private sector, implementing the latest technologies to enhance the performance, Establishing electronic complaint system for the govt. of Dubai, updating the human resource laws  across govt. organizations, implementing employee training and development system and performance management system across govt. departments etc. (dubai.ae, 2007)

# the plan was devised in 2005 and hence most of the data are with respect to 2005, at that time Dubai was enjoying huge capital influx and hence achieving these ambitious goals does not seem to be a big deal, but after the global economic crisis there was a dearth of foreign capital and many of the real estate projects have got scrapped or delayed. In the past two years its GDP growth had been in the range of 2.5%, and under such circumstances, achieving a US $ 108 Billion GDP by 2015 along with maintaining a annual growth of 11% seems very difficult, hence govt. authorities are planning to review and revise the economic components of the strategic plan, but the overall vision of transforming Dubai, by building upon the existing strong capabilities and resources is going to persist and will be executed with full vigor and motivation. The given blog is just an abstract of the strategic plans formulated in 2005, and in subsequent blogs , the author will attempt, analyzing the strategic approach used by Dubai in tackling the present crisis and keeping the plan alive, which depends more on the spirit than the stipulated time frame. (Rob Corder, 2009)

Reference:

1> Dubai.ae, 2007, highlights: Dubai strategic plan 2015, p-15 to 22, available at < http://www.dubai.ae/opt/CMSContent/Active/Shared/Files/DEG_docs/Dubai_Strategic_Plan_2015. pdf>

2> Dubai.ae, 2007, highlights: Dubai strategic plan 2015 p-25 to 29, available at < http://www.dubai.ae/opt/CMSContent/Active/Shared/Files/DEG_docs/Dubai_Strategic_Plan_2015. pdf>

3> Dubai.ae, highlights: Dubai strategic plan 2015, 2007, p-29-33, available at < http://www.dubai.ae/opt/CMSContent/Active/Shared/Files/DEG_docs/Dubai_Strategic_Plan_2015. pdf>

4> Dubai.ae, highlights: Dubai strategic plan 2015, 2007, p-35 to 38, available at < http://www.dubai.ae/opt/CMSContent/Active/Shared/Files/DEG_docs/Dubai_Strategic_Plan_2015. pdf>

5> Dubai.ae, highlights: Dubai strategic plan 2015, 2007, p-38 to 41, available at < http://www.dubai.ae/opt/CMSContent/Active/Shared/Files/DEG_docs/Dubai_Strategic_Plan_2015. pdf>

6> Rob C, 2009, Dubai’s 2015 strategic plan, arabianbusiness.com, available at < http://www.arabianbusiness.com/dubai-s-2015-strategic-plan-b-40713.html?parentID=325206 >

Crisis in Mass marketing and the advent of Interactive Branding

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                     
 The term “Marketing” might be coined in the dawn of 20th century but the idea was prevalent since thousands of years. Similarly customers are also not a recent phenomenon; they would have been active since the first transaction was made. In the past century the realm of marketing had undergone constant evolution as a discipline. In the initial days marketing was a push concept where there was a constant tendency on the parts of the firms to push their products/services to the customers. In 1953 with “Neil Borden” coining the term “Marketing Mix” (4ps of marketing that is product, price, people & promotion) marketing took a leap as a discipline. In 60’s Theodore Levitt came up with the theory of “Marketing Myopia” that for the first time attempted to consider seriously the customer factor in marketing. In the coming years the significance of customers kept on increasing in formulation of marketing strategy by individual firms, 4Ps of marketing got transformed to the 4Cs (Consumer, Cost, Convenience, Communication).In the 21st century with computers and internets penetrating to individual households coupled with a plethora of popular Websites, Social networking sites, E-portals, Online communities etc the realm of marketing is undergoing a new paradigm shift. Now the customer is not only the central focus of the marketing strategy but is also the most active player of the branding exercise conducted by individual firms.


The new age customer

The new age customer is very different from his/her previous counterparts. He is much more intelligent, confident and has much more understanding of various kinds of products & brands. A stereotypical new age customer 1can be assumed to be exposed to end number of media channels, is much more tech savvy and internet friendly. It can be assumed that the new age customer has a high sense of individuality and in this age consumerism buying for him/her is a very high involvement, fun driven process. There are across 1.96 Billion internet users 2 across the world. 90% of the internet users know at least one social media and every social media user is connected to 195 friends on an average.There are 133 million blogs enlisted in the blog directory “Techorati”.These facts explain the power and influence of the new age consumers. The probabilities are always high that a new age consumer is also an author with his own blog he uses to reflect his view points. He might also be a thought leader with his own friend circle in the social media sphere he can influence, a critic using these media platforms to criticize a product he doesn’t like and a brand ambassador using positive word of mouth in such social media platforms for something he likes. The strengths and skills that have been acquired by the new age customers cannot be discounted by marketers. These customers need to be involved actively in the branding processes.

Interactive Branding

American Marketing association(AMA) defines a brand as a "name, term, sign, symbol or design, or a combination of them intended to identify the goods and services of one seller or group of sellers and to differentiate them from those of other sellers. In reality brand is much beyond that, brand resides within the hearts and minds of customers, clients, and prospects. It is the sum total of their experiences and perceptions, some of which you can influence, and some that you cannot. These days with the help of Websites, E-manuals, E-brochures, Multimedia presentations, Clickable add banners interactivity between the customers and the firm increases many fold. While the customer gets a better brand experience the firm understands the behavior, interest and tastes of the customer in a better way. These interactive tools can also provide a good insight into the customer’s geographic location as well as demographic profiles.



Crisis in Mass Marketing

Given below are some of the statistics that describes the crisis in mass marketing:-

• Only 18% of TV advertisements create positive ROI.

• Average return on every one dollar spent advertising on mass media.

• TV advertising cost has increased by 256% in the past one decade.

• 90% of people who can skip TV ads do skip it.

• 65% of people believe that they are constantly bombarded by TV ads

• Only 14% of people trust TV advertisements.

• 56% of people avoid buying products from company who they think

Advantages of Interactive branding


With the help of better music, videos, texts and pictures it engages the customers more effectively.

• With the help of web2.0 platform there can be a direct communication between the firm and its customers. Customers can communicate their requirements, expectations, responses and of course judgment to firms.

• Web 2.0 platforms provide effective platforms for the customers & consumers all around the world to come together and collaborate.

• Clicks on web pages can be traced back to get insights about the profile, location, choices and behavior of customers.

• With the help of tools like “Google Analytics” large amount of data collected over a period of time can be analyzed and processed to derive consumer behavior pattern.

• These tools help in figuring out the degree of involvement of individual customers. Stuffs like time spent on web pages, comments posted, the no. of revisits made give a very clear cut understanding of individual customer’s involvement with a brand. This can help firms in profiling their customers.

• In comparison to regular mass media channels such as news papers, magazine, television commercials these web based applications and platforms are much more economical.

• In the time of economic downturns when the regular advertisement budget gets cut down, Interactive branding can provide economical and effective alternative.

Social Media

                                                                 
Social media websites like Facebook, Orkut, BlogSpot, LinkedIn, play a very important role in Interactive branding. Social media is cost effective, has a wide range and reach and can boost immediate sales by engaging the customers. Social media provides platforms for likeminded people to interact with each other irrespective of the geographical boundaries. One of the biggest advantages of social media is that it helps in communicating the right message to the right audience. Given here is a table that describes the influence some of the most popular social media websites with the help of latest statistics.

Facebook:-

• The average Facebook user has 130 friends.
• More than 25 billion pieces of content (web links, news stories, blog posts, notes, photo albums, etc.) is shared each month.
• People spend over 500 billion minutes per month on Facebook.
• The average Facebook user is connected to 60 pages, groups and events.
• There are more than 1 million entrepreneurs and developers from 180 countries on Facebook

Twitter

• There are currently 110 million users of Twitter’s services.
•  Twitter receives 180 million unique visits each month.
•  There are more than 600 million searches on Twitter every day.
• Twitter gets more than 300,000 new users every day.

Over 60% of Twitter use is outside the U.S.

Linkedin

• There are more than 70 million users worldwide
• Members of LinkedIn come from more than 200 countries from every continent.
• 80% of companies use LinkedIn as a recruitment tool.
• LinkedIn receives almost 12 million unique visitors per day.
• A new member joins LinkedIn every second.

You Tube

• The first video was uploaded in you Tube on 23rd April,2005.By 2006 more than 65000 videos were uploaded every day.
• . YouTube receives more than 2 billion viewers per day.
• Every minute, 24 hours of video is uploaded to YouTube.
• Music videos account for 20% of uploads.

Implementation of Interactive branding

Interactive branding is relatively new concept and there is dearth of strategic models to implement it. One of the models that explain it is the “COCHA” model.

                                                             

• Concept: Any online material needs to have an appropriate concept. A concept that communicates the brand essence, tells the brand story well.
• Content: It should have a very engaging content with a right mix of text, images, videos, music, software, etc that can help users interact with it.
• Chanel: Rather than being a monologue medium (click ads) it should facilitate communication between the website and the users. This can be implemented with the help of social media, chat gadgets, e mail etc.
• Context: Should target the right customer at the right time and right place. Should fit their interest and use their language.
• Consumer: It should facilitate firms to extend and tighten the communication link with the target consumer base. Consumer bases can be defined with the help of profiles, communities, tastes, needs, motivations etc.

Conclusion

The new century heralds a new paradigm shift in branding. In the current economic crisis where advertising budgets are getting cut down drastically and mass media channels are losing its effectiveness day by day firms need innovative ways to promote its brand. Innovative ways that can engage and capture target customers in cost effective ways. Another important benefit of “Interactive Branding” is that it helps the new age customer to interact directly and collectively with the firms. The new age customers who are equipped with the best of media tools and gadgets and have much more knowledge in contrast to their previous counterparts just don’t want to have a passive role. They want active involvement in the brand building process. This further signifies the importance of “Interactive Branding”. Having said this it does not mean that regular mass media channels are not important, they are surely going to exist but the time has come where firms need to have a right mix of regular branding tools as well as innovative tools like “Interactive branding”

(Reference :-
1. Online media gazette.


2. WWW.slideshare.com

3. http://www.internetstats.com/

4. State of the Blogosphere 2009.

5. )

http://www.internetworldstats.com/