The Indian era of economic growth, with the country leaping from one landmark to another, also brings opportunities for the meeting industry, especially the growth of conventions for the medical and healthcare sectors.
The India Brand Equity Foundation, in its report, says, “As of FY24, the Indian healthcare sector is one of India’s largest employers, as it employs a total of 7.5 million people. Progress in telemedicine, virtual assistants, and data analytics is expected to create 2.7-3.5 million new tech jobs.
Bajaj Finserv AMC, in their report, said, “The Indian healthcare sector is growing rapidly and is projected to reach $638 billion by 2025. Valued at $110 billion in 2016, the Indian healthcare market reached $372 billion in 2023, marking a 22.5% CAGR growth during this period. Overall, the sector has seen a 17.5% CAGR growth over the past 10 years.
As the world of medical care in India goes on an upward spiral, can India’s medical academia, researchers, and healthcare professionals be far behind in their pursuit to create opportunities to hold conventions, symposiums, and conclaves?
The data regarding the number of medical associations in India is still vague and has been difficult to ascertain. There is no single, definitive total number of medical associations in India, as there are many national, regional, and speciality-specific organisations. However, the Indian Medical Association (IMA) is the largest one, with over 1,700 local branches and 31 state branches. The National Medical Commission (NMC) is a regulatory body for allopathic doctors, and as of June 2022, over 1.3 million doctors were registered with the State Medical Councils and the National Medical Commission. Interestingly, there is no exact number of body parts as well, but common counts include 206 bones in an adult skeleton, over 600 muscles, and around 78 organs (though this number can range from 78 to 80 with recent discoveries). A very basic count includes around 50 to 60 major external and internal parts, but a more comprehensive count could include every individual bone, muscle, tendon, and cell. And most of the above have an association to go with.
Going by the size of the medical convention market, the global medical conferences market is estimated at around USD 10-35 billion/year in recent years; perhaps it is growing with hybrid/virtual formats and increasing international participation. In India, the medical conferences market is likely at around USD 200-800 million/year.
The CME (Continuing Medical Education) market is (~$9.83B in 2024) and is expected to touch USD 15.85 billion as per the IMARC Group. The MICE conferences segment (all disciplines) is ~USD 200-350 billion, with an estimated 5-10% of all professional/academic conferences expected to be in the medical space, estimated to be a market of USD 10-35 billion globally for 2024-2025.
In the Indian meeting industry market, medical conventions amount to about 700 – 800, with the smallest being 200 and large ones having nearly 2000 attending them. If we can estimate that 10-20% of the total MICE value is in India, it does configure a serious potential for Professional Conference Organisers (PCOs) making a beeline to this sector and creating specialisation opportunities.
As per information provided to the Lok Sabha by the Minister of Health & Family Welfare, Dr. Bharati Pravin Pawar, the doctor population ratio in the country is 1:854, assuming 80% availability of 12.68 lakh registered allopathic doctors and 5.65 lakh AYUSH doctors.
Indian MICE need a strategy to woo and nurture this growing segment. Medical MICE need a specialist tag category, which entails working with both the Ministries of Tourism and Health. The policy should bring in tourism, healthcare, and deliver a knowledge-based exchange. As much as the Indian Convention Promotion Bureau helps in bringing international conventions to India, this sector requires a specialised outreach to medical professionals and medical associations to help create bids to bring in events to India.
With Indian meeting infrastructure being at its all-time Nirvanic proportions, it would be great to establish Medical Convention Hubs in cities like Delhi NCR, Bengaluru, Chennai, Kolkata, Hyderabad, and Kochi, where there are strong medical institutions and international air connectivity. Also, create state-of-the-art convention-cum-research campuses within or adjacent to leading hospitals, medical universities, or biotech parks. As technology gets the nod, we should also offer plug-and-play hybrid conference infrastructure (digital broadcast, multilingual interpretation, AI-based networking, etc.).
As much as I would like to reinforce the role of technology, the industry still commands a relationship-driven methodology. We should also partner with medical associations (such as IMA, speciality societies) and professional conference organisers (PCOs), medical colleges and universities, and healthcare institutions.
As political regimes across the country try to woo their voter base with freebies galore, it is now the right time to incentivise the hosting of international CME-accredited conferences in India. As India surges to be the fourth biggest economy in the world, the government, both at the state and centre, should bring in the heft of being the third biggest economy in the world and create an investment budget to woo conventions into the country. The convention business across the world is brutally competitive. Merely showcasing the civilizational roots and a ‘word of mouth’ type of marketing will not work. We as a country should put money on the table.
India Tourism and those who oversee the business tourism side of the business cannot promote India in isolation. We need to bring in synergies with the Ministry of Healthcare, Information Technology, Commerce, and Education on board. India has to be positioned as a global medical knowledge destination.
Market India not just as a cost-effective venue, but as a centre of excellence in healthcare, research, and technology. Being the pharmacy of the world is just not enough; we must create an aggressive mindset to highlight India’s leadership and heft in medical and healthcare conventions.
MICE and the world of medical conventions are also about alliances. Doctors in India working on various specialised medical genres are already part of several international bodies. Leverage their connections and incentivise them to bring their annual meetings and regional congresses to India. Geopolitically, ‘Indo-Pacific’ is a brilliant new opportunity to project India as its new headquarters. This will help drive events into this economy, which the world cannot ignore anymore.
The time is just perfect to create an ‘India Medical Convention Bureau.’ The tagline ‘Healing Hands—Incredible India’ sounds just perfect!