The Meetings Means Business (MMB) blueprint for bringing the hospitality sector together to show the power of events resonates in any language. Four years ago, Canada joined the MMB family. At MPI World Education Conference in Toronto, Canada, this week, MMB co-chair Julie Coker Graham announced that Meetings Mean Business India had launched.
“The Mission is the same: to make it easier for advocates to share the importance of the industry outside our hospitality circle,” Coker Graham said. She pointed to the participation of 53 countries in April’s Global Meetings Industry Day this year as proof that the message crosses borders. “Our outreach had a reach of 88.2 million people,” she reported.
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Nitin Sachdeva, executive director of Venture Marketing and the organizing force behind the Indian coalition, described the industry there as still in its infancy when it comes to working together and asking for government support. “We need to help the government understand the importance of the industry,” he said. Sachdeva described the country as one of the largest potential markets in the world and predicted that tourism in the country could grow by 16 percent.
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MMB India will function as an advisory council with 20 active leaders from the MICE sector. Sachdeva’s plan is to first coordinate messaging from everyone involved and then move on to advocacy.
Although each chapter will modify the design of the group to fit its individual needs, all can share research and content on everything from human trafficking to homelessness.
Each MMB coalition can also help the others facilitate movement between the countries. “We can educate each other on how to be U.S.-ready, Canada-ready and India-ready,” Sachdeva said.
“It is a funny thing,” he quipped. “The idea for MMB India started with a connection in Montreal and launched in Toronto.”
