 India: The Convention Destination
Choice of Venues
Conference & Exhibition Services
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India: The Convention Destination
India is not just one of the world's oldest civilization, it is also the
world's largest democracy, and has made stupendous progress among developing
nations. A continent-sized country, India possesses an amazing wealth of
sights and sounds, tastes and textures. You will find a fascinating amalgam
of tradition & culture, beauty & nature, style & splendour, warmth, feelings
& courtesies, comfort & convenience virtually everything the modern
conference organiser or delegate could expect. One visit to India is a must.
What makes India different from any other destination is the myriad of
experiences that it offers. This is one land where the ancient and the
modern co-exist. India has literally everything that a visitor wants to
experience and offers people a complete holiday both physical and mental.
This is perhaps the reason why we have so many repeat visitors.
To quote Mark Twain, " India is the cradle of the human race, the birthplace
of human speech, the mother of history, the grandmother of legend and the
great grandmother of tradition. Our most valuable and most instructive
materials in the history of man are treasured up in India."
Amidst the countless ways that India can capture world attention as a
tourist paradise, there also exists a dynamic business opportunity as a
splendid venue for international conferences and conventions of no less than
global standards.
India is undoubtedly a unique Conference Destination as it offers cultural
and heritage sites, the exotic and mystical, excellent facilities of beach
and adventure holidays which can be combined as pre and post conference
tours.
Accessibility
India is globally connected to a network of over 50 international airlines
and several domestic airlines, which provide convenient connectivity within
India.
Rail & Road Network
Added to this is an elaborate network of surface transportation system.
There is an excellent Railway system running through the entire country. All
important cities are connected with state-of-the-art 'Shatabdi & Rajdhani'
Express trains. Special trains like Palace on Wheels and Royal Orient
Express, comprising of air-conditioned saloons decorated in the old Maharaja
style offer guests a chance to stay on the train and visit colorful
Rajasthan and fascinating Gujarat.
An excellent network of roads, national and state highways, luxury coaches,
Indian & foreign-make vehicles add to the convenience and comfort of surface
travel.
Additional advantages
And, to add to this, India offers an educated manpower base where fluency in
English and other official international languages can be expected.
A large number of Convention Centres are available in India with a seating capacity of up to 1700 persons. The important conference centres in the country are at New Delhi, Mumbai, Agra, Bangalore, Chennai, Cochin, Goa, Hyderabad, Jaipur & Kolkata. Some important hotel chains like the Taj Group, ITC-Welcomgroup, the Oberoi's, Meridien Hotels, Marriott Hotels etc. also have excellent conference facilities.
The exhibition industry has also gained fresh impetus with exhibition centres like Pragati Maidan in New Delhi, the Nehru Centre in Mumbai and the Chennai Trade Centre in Chennai amongst several other options.
Facilities available at all the Recommended Venues:
• Convention Centres, Conference & Banquet Halls
• Exhibition Centres
• Auditoriums & Stadiums for hosting opening/closing ceremonies & other events
• Accommodation in good 5-star and 4-star hotels
• Restaurants & Bars
• Recreation activities like Golf Course, Yoga & Ayurveda Centre, Discotheque, Sports like Tennis, Squash, Badminton, Health Club with Spa facilities
• Easy accessibility in terms of domestic and international flights
With the expansion in the network of airlines operation on the domestic routes, better tourist surface transport systems including the Indian Railways, new centers of information technology, many new convention centres, hotels and meeting facilities, India is now an important MICE destination.
Conference & Exhibition Services
Our support services include a complete range of activities right from the Bidding Process going up to On-site Management. At the heart of our Services Management is a Computer Based Event Management System, which tracks each activity on an on-going basis. Some of the segmented services required for the smooth functioning of conferences and exhibitions provided by MERLION HOLIDAYS are as under:
For Conference Planners: we will support the visit of senior officials from their organisation / association to their headquarters overseas or wherever your organisation is having a convention to push forward the idea of bringing the next convention to India by way of organising international air tickets, stay overseas as well as all information and supporting material required.
Conference Bidding: we work as a catalyst to provide support to conference planners, organisations, associations and other trade bodies during the bidding process for the international conferences. Herein our services include pre bid activities like preliminary assessment of the conference, preparing preliminary budget-assess feasibility, bid documentation and presentation etc.
Administrative & Secretarial Services: Setting up of the fully equipped secretariat, overall event coordination, venue management, liaisoning with government and non-government bodies, managing/handling routine correspondences, mails, follow-up etc., assistance in preparing the event budget, foreign exchange management services
Marketing, Promotion & E-Services: Sponsorship programmes, production of special publications before and during the event, Information brochures with program structure, forms etc. online marketing and sales, Buyer-seller meets, event website design, Exhibitor's directory, Participant's List, management and online payment collection.
Publicity, Media & PR: Planning advertising and publicity campaigns, organizing press conferences and media briefings, press releases / stories during the run-up to the events etc.
Registration Services: Customisation of the software as per the event requirements, online web registration facilities, Payment collection facility (i.e. cash, credit cards, cheques as well as on-line on the web, where linked with registration), management of on-site registration counters etc.
On-site Management: Hall management including audio visual support with recording, business center, mobile phones facilities, documentation center, food & beverages coordination and management, fully equipped business center facility, video/still photography, doctor on call, first aid, security services.
Support Services: Signage, Information kiosks, delegates' kit production with accessories, conference paper (abstract) management and handling, gifts & mementos, accompanying persons' programme, special events (awards, tournaments etc.), banquets.
Conference Equipment : In equipment and facilities that support international conferences, we provide the latest technologies & efficient support services. This includes mega screen audio-visual projection systems, digital sound recording and editing services, video / text / data / fax transmission facilities, simultaneous translation in foreign / local languages, media and satellite network connections, radio paging and cellular telephony, TV and video production, Internet, E-mail and CD-ROM multi-media etc.
Exhibition Set-up Services: venue selection, negotiations & booking, arranging required permissions & support, freight handling, gate passes, layout design & fabrication, signage, back-end coordination with sub-contractors / vendors, exhibitor's support services (secretarial, IT, communication, move-in etc), on-site management, trade facilitation services.
Delegate Services: Meet and Greet on arrival, transportation, requirements to visit convention venues, hotel accommodation.
Sponsorships: once the confirmation of holding the conference is awarded to us, all support from the Central Government, the respective State Government and local bodies will be solicited. We will approach the appropriate organisations and suppliers for sponsoring gift items, advertisements, meals, tea/coffee breaks, theme evenings etc for the attending delegates.
Pre & Post Tours: these are planned according to the profile of the attending delegates, the season and the region / venue where the convention is taking place.