Monaco aims to position itself as a dream destination in the world tourism market, including India. India is in the process of emerging as one of the main source markets for this sovereign city-state. In 2012, India generated 4,718 room nights of a total 850,000 room nights and has climbed up from eighth to fourth position of total Asian arrivals.
Monaco recently launched its new campaign ‘Your event needs Monaco’ keeping in view the capability and expertise that the destination offers to make every event a success. “We are planning to tap the MICE potential of IT, pharma, finance and banking sectors in India. We offer a wide range of free and innovative services to those organising conventions, seminars, exhibitions, festivals and willing to meet their demands and responds to all types of requests for any budget. We offer incentives such as all logistical supports such as free transfer for airport, free cocktail and customise buses to big event organisers,” revealed Guillaume Rose, Director, Monaco Government Tourist and Convention Authority. MICE contributes 23 per cent to the total tourism numbers in Monaco.
The Authority is also betting big on the wedding and honeymoon segments from India. “We customise everything for the wedding. Our services are oriented towards making the wedding more exclusive and special. For weddings, roads are blocked and special signages are installed at main points. We are only interested in high-end weddings,” he said.
Moreover, the Authority wants to promote Monaco as a MICE and luxury destination in India as well as a wedding destination in Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai, Kolkata and Bengaluru. The Authority is also planning to take Bollywood route to promote Monaco among high-end Indian travelers. “We met various production houses of Bollywood to showcase Monaco in India though cinema. However, we are yet to find anything convincing.”
