SKIL Events：从活动制作到端到端体验

How would you assess the growth of India’s MICE industry in 2026? What key trends are shaping demand, and are you seeing companies increase their spending on MICE?
2026 has been a strong year for India’s MICE industry, but the bigger change is not just volume. The briefs themselves have become more ambitious. Clients are spending more, but they are also questioning every line item. A 500,000 rupees (US$5,300) production element will be challenged hard, while a much larger overall budget can still get approved if the business value is clear. We are seeing this shift first-hand across large conferences and multi-city programmes. The ask today goes far beyond venue, stage and F&B. Clients expect us to think about delegate movement, content, production, technology, hospitality, networking and the overall experience as one connected journey.

Three trends stand out. First, experience is now the differentiator. People remember how an event made them feel, not how many LED panels were used. Second, clients are moving towards integrated mandates. They want fewer partners and clearer accountability across travel, mobility, hotels and events. Third, ROI is being discussed much earlier. Leadership teams want to know what employees, partners or customers will actually take back from the event.

Are you witnessing a shift towards immersive experiences, experiential formats, technology-led engagement and more personalised event concepts?
Absolutely. In fact, I would say this is one of the clearest shifts in MICE right now. Clients no longer want an event that people simply attend. They want an experience people participate in, remember and talk about afterwards. We are seeing more demand for interactive content, immersive stage environments, live polling, app-led engagement, AI-enabled touchpoints, personalised delegate journeys and networking formats that feel less scripted. But there is an important distinction. Technology should solve an experience problem, not become the experience itself.

A giant LED wall or an AI photo booth means very little if registration is chaotic, sessions run late or delegates do not know where to go next. The most successful events combine high-tech moments with very basic operational discipline.

Personalisation is also becoming far more important. A CXO, a first-time employee and an international guest should not necessarily experience the same event in exactly the same way. We are increasingly designing journeys around audience segments, agenda choices, hospitality preferences and networking objectives.

How competitive is India as a destination for international conferences and large-scale corporate events?
India is far more competitive today than it was even five years ago. The infrastructure gap has narrowed sharply. Venues such as Bharat Mandapam, Yashobhoomi and Jio World Convention Centre have given India genuine global-scale capacity, while hotel inventory and air connectivity have improved across major business cities.

From an organiser’s perspective, India is also cost-competitive on production, manpower and creative execution compared with several established global MICE hubs. Where we still need to improve is consistency. Visa ease, airport-to-venue movement, city-level coordination, permissions and destination marketing must become more seamless if India wants to win more global bids.

Which destinations are emerging as preferred choices for corporate events and incentive travel in India?
Destination selection in MICE is very different from leisure travel. You first solve the mathematics, then you propose the destination. For a 500-plus delegate annual meet, sales conference or national offsite, the shortlist becomes surprisingly small. That is why Mumbai, Delhi NCR, Bengaluru, Ahmedabad and Goa continue to dominate large-format events.

For mid-sized programmes, the canvas opens up significantly. Jaipur and Udaipur work very well for incentive groups, partner meets and curated conferences where experience is as important as capacity.

The most interesting opportunities are in smaller leadership offsites and CXO conclaves. Once the group size drops, destinations such as the Andamans, Puducherry, Lakshadweep, Bekal and Kovalam become viable because exclusivity and experience can take priority over scale.

What are SKIL Events’ key growth priorities over the next two to three years?
Our growth priority is very clear. We want SKIL Events to scale aggressively, but without becoming just another large event agency. The real advantage of SKIL is our integrated model. A client planning a national conference or incentive programme does not only need production. They need flights, hotels, visas, airport transfers, ground transportation, delegate movement, hospitality and event execution to work as one system. That is where we are fundamentally different. Within the SKIL Group, each of these capabilities exists as a serious standalone business, and we can also bring them together under one accountable team.

Over the next three years, we are targeting approximately 5x growth in the events business. That growth will come from larger integrated mandates, deeper relationships with existing enterprise clients and a stronger focus on complex conferences, incentives and multi-city programmes. The next big piece is technology. By the end of this financial year, we expect to launch our self-booking platform, bringing travel technology into the same ecosystem.

Which overseas destinations are emerging as preferred choices for Indian corporates?
Dubai, Thailand, Sri Lanka, Singapore and Malaysia are still the big five. A lot of that comes down to convenience: short and direct flights, availability of Indian food and easy visas. Thailand and Malaysia offering visa-free entry to Indians has made a difference. Vietnam has become the breakout destination in the last couple of years: it’s affordable and has more direct flights now. We are also seeing interest in Bali, Sri Lanka and Baku.

What more can overseas destinations do to strengthen partnerships with Indian MICE operators and capture a larger share of this growing outbound market?
Make it easier for us to put forward a reliable proposal. That means quick responses, transparent group pricing, clear information on visa processes and realistic confirmation of what hotels and venues can accommodate.

Practical flexibility matters: room blocks, meal timings, dietary requirements, production access and cancellation terms can decide whether a programme is workable. Destinations that understand this, rather than offering a standard European-style package, do very well with us. Fam trips help. When our team has actually stood in a venue, tasted the food and inspected the meeting rooms and travel time, we sell it with confidence.