A Chinese tale of MICE and men should inspire Indians as well

A Chinese billionaire probably did not ferry 6,400 employees —over 50% of his total workforce — to Paris, Cannes, Monaco and Nice for an all-expenses-paid holiday recently only to have them break the world record for the ‘longest humanmade phrase’ by spelling out ‘Tiens Dream is Nice on the Cote d’Azur’. Maybe he actually wanted them to broaden their cultural horizons by seeing the Mona Lisa and the Moulin Rouge cabaret in Paris — though not all 6,400 of them at once.

That just one billionaire’s generosity kept over 140 hotels and as many tourist buses in several cities profitably engaged clearly shows that the handbook on MICE travel needs to be rethought to incorporate and encourage this new trend. People-intensive world records ripe for the breaking, extravagant tycoons and willing employees can obviously generate just the right sort of business to fill in those off-season dips in earnings that conventional meetings, incentives, conferences and events cannot.

India should also consider recalibrating its Incredible India campaigns to take advantage of this new trend. And as Indian billionaires can also take a cue from their Chinese counterparts, relevant foreign destinations should also apprise their respective governments to not baulk at any future bulk visa orders from this part of the world.