Hyderabad ticks all the right boxes. It has the required hospitality infrastructure, access by air, rail and road, is steeped in history and has an abundance of experiences for the culinary to the traditional arts. In a nutshell, it is the ideal place for a convention or a corporate conference.
The Telangana administration has spared no effort to place itself on the global map as a work and vacation destination par excellence. The recently held eighth Global Entrepreneurship Summit (GES) proved to be a further boost for these aspirations and its resounding success has ensured more major events and fixtures in the future. The recent three-day conference brought together over 1,500 high profile entrepreneurs and investors along with ecosystem supporters from 150 countries, not to mention a pantheon of VIPs, including Prime Minister Narendra Modi and US President Donald Trump’s daughter and advisor Ivanka Trump.
In its report, the International Congress and Convention Association (ICCA), a global body, has recognised Hyderabad as the second best MICE (Meetings, Incentives, Conventions, Events) destination in the country after Delhi. The growing start-up support and incubation infrastructure promises bigger things in store for Hyderabad and make it a contender for the top place.
The fact that Hyderabad has hosted 18 major meetings in 2014 , 23 in 2015 and 22 in 2016 shows that the city is swiftly becoming a preferred international destination for conventions. The Hyderabad International Convention Centre (HICC), a state-of-the-art facility, is another positive asset. Hyderabad, which has been strongly competing with the Silicon Valley, Silicon City, has now emerged as one of the biggest start-up incubation hubs in this hemisphere. While the impact may take some time to become visible, the solid start that the young state has made is already visible. The latest one to join this group is e-commerce giant Amazon Inc., which will open its biggest campus outside the US in Hyderabad by 2019. With Asia’s largest warehouse (280,000 sq. ft) on the outskirts of Hyderabad, the Telangana government has already allotted a 10-acre site for building close to three million square-foot facility to house a 13,500-member strong team.
Other than these, Facebook and Microsoft have previously had successful operations in Telangana to give a push to the start-up ecosystem. Proposing an investment of Rs 2,500 crore, Airbus has put forward the wish to set up a helicopter-manufacturing unit in Hyderabad. The company plans to collaborate either with the Tata’s or Mahindra’s in India to manufacture 100 choppers a year.
This will provide employment opportunities for close to 4,500 people. Speaking to the media, K.T. Rama Rao (KTR), the IT minister of Telangana, vividly highlighted the direction he had given and said, “In the past three-and-half years, we have tried to do things which are truly unique, truly path-breaking when it comes to innovation, workforce and skilling.”
A tangible seal of approval came from Niti Aayog, the organisers of GES2017, when they opted for this hi-tech city to host the event. The more than adequate support from the state government in providing an efficient security cover for the visiting VVIPs made Hyderabad more appealing as a destination of first choice. Private and public sectors work in harmony with the government to offer a seamless platform. Amitabh Kant, CEO, NITI Aayog, has said: “For India, the summit held a special place as we are more intensely focused than ever before to give entrepreneurs the opportunities and an ecosystem to help them thrive; Hyderabad offers everything.” Coupled with the investment thrust was the fact that hours before the GES2017 kicked off, Prime Minister Narendra Modi flagged off the Hyderabad Metro Rail project. The project promises to be a boon for citizens in Hyderabad.
Being the first ever city in the country which started operations with a 30 km section, the city can now boast of connectivity from one end to another in the next few months. Once the Metro project is completed visitors will be able to reach the heart of the city without having to face any traffic. All these factors make destination Hyderabad a perfect MICE destination.