TBM Staff - Mumbai The maiden edition of The Iconic Experiences Show (TIES) 2023 recently concluded in New Delhi. Held at The Hyatt Regency New Delhi, the event was very well attended by Travel Tourism and Hospitality professionals along with Government officials and people from the field of Yoga and Wellness. Acknowledging the presence and growing potential of the Luxury Segment, Jyoti Mayal, President, TAAI and Director TIES in collaboration with Chander Mansharamani, MD, Alpcord and Director TIES & TV9 network, came together to launch the new and one of its kinds – The Iconic Experiences Show. Keeping Luxury segment as its main target, TIES 2023 focussed on 5 sectors of the industry – Weddings, Wellness, Leisure, Conferences and Sustainability. The event was spread over a period of 2 days and followed a very different style and itinerary on both days.
Day one, i.e., October 16 was a day dedicated to discussions, deliberations, masterclasses, TED talks, powerful presentations and more. Some of the prominent speakers who marked their presence on this day included Acharya Pratishtha, Yog & Spiritual Guru, Former Diplomat HCI Mauritius Ministry of External Affairs & Director, Mokshayatan Yog Sansthan; Sadhvi Pragya Bharti, Spiritual Leader & Co-Founder – Sambhav International Foundation and Yudhistir Govinda Das, Country Director of Communications & National Spokesperson, ISKCON India who talked about wellness and how it is not just a luxury but also a necessity. Aditya Ghosh, Co-Founder, Akasa Air and Kapil Kaul, CEO & Director, CAPA Advisory discussed the immense underlying aviation potential in India.
Touching upon the most relevant sector in luxury today – Weddings, the panel discussion witnessed deliberations from Chetan Vohra, Managing Director, Line Communications & Weddingline; Vandana Mohan, Founder, The Wedding Design Company; Dr. Sanjana Jon, Social Activist & Fashion Designer and Asmita Chakraborty, Miss Tourism India 2021. An invigorating perspective on how to make “experiences” better was delivered by Ashish Gupta, Consulting CEO, FAITH.
Another Panel Discussion on Luxury in Leisure brought together hotelier’s perspective from veterans such as Zubin Saxena, MD and Senior Area VP, South Asia, Radisson Hotel Group; Meshaal M. Qureshi, Trade Markets Director, Saudi Tourism Authority; Hadigalage Chalaka Dev Gajabahu, Chairman Sri Lanka Tourism Promotion Bureau; Noel Swain, COO, Evisa VAS & Tourism Services- VFS; Parveen Chander Kumar, EVP Sales and Marketing, Indian Hotels Company and Puneet Dhawan, Senior Vice President Operations, Accor India & South Asia.
Knowledge Sessions
Adding an element of great knowledge and experience share was the MasterClasses by Industry stalwart Nakul Anand, Executive Director, ITC Limited. The day also saw elaborative and insightful talks by Sridhar Keppurengan, Senior Director/Lead- Cross Border Payments and G. Kamala Vardhana Rao, IAS, Secretary (GOI) & Chief Executive Officer, Food & Safety & Standard Authority of India.
The Knowledge Session on Vibrant Heritage India saw participation by Mukesh Kumar Meshram, Principal Secretary, Tourism and Culture Department, Government of Uttar Pradesh & Director General, UP Tourism; M.D. Sinha, Principal Secretary, Haryana Tourism Department; Tarun Thakral, Founder & Managing Trustee – Heritage Transport Museum, Ashish Gupta, Founder: StrategyPLUTO & Consulting CEO: FAITH, Rakhee Gupta Bhandari, IAS, Secretary Tourism and cultural affairs, Punjab Tourism.
The perfect icing on the cake was the last session of the day one focussed on Women Powering Sustainability Goals and witnessed the viewpoints of Rupinder Brar, Commissioner of Income Tax, Govt. of India; Dr. Jyotsna Suri, Chairperson & Managing Director, Bharat Hotels Limited; Varija Bajaj, Fashion Designer, Founder, Varija Lifestyles, O&Y, Lela, Varija Home, Varija Life & THE CAREER and Shobha Rudra, Founder partner, RARE India. From multi-tasking talented women to those who are outweighing men in performance numbers, the session was all about women empowerment.
The entire day was alive with very interesting more than a house packed venue followed by lively fusion music, gala dinner.
Highlights of Day 2
The Day 2 of the TIES 2023 took place on an Exhibition Format and saw many Industry Stakeholders take up booth space, showcasing their marvellous products and services to the discerning visitor and Travel / Tour Operator. With pre-fixed meetings with 30 Corporates in MICE 50 high end wedding planners and good number of walk-ins, the show allowed ample opportunities to the tourism professionals to network and form mutually beneficial business ties.
A perfect conclusion to this unique and grand show was the Mock Wedding, which was jointly collaborated by Ties and Q Events, wherein, through some traditional Indian ceremonies, the rituals and process of an Indian wedding was explained beautifully. Amidst much laughter, networking, good food and great conversation, the first-ever edition of Ties 2023 came to an end.
“The maiden show of TIES 2023 has been a huge success. Conference hall filled to capacity at 10:15 in the morning on Day 1 of the show. The impressive and aspirational line of speakers, whom we had requested to come and share their experiences with the audience, all showed up – sharing their vast pool of knowledge with the gathering and staying back to hear what their peers had to share. The event was successful in offering people from the travel trade an opportunity to interact with State Tourism heads, Reps of Countries, Attractions, Hoteliers, Aviation experts, DMCs directly and learn how ‘differently’ they can package the same old destination – how they can offer an Iconic Experience to their clients,” said Mayal.
