USPs
Hyderabad merits a mention in the latest ICCA report on city rankings for the number of association conferences. Though Delhi holds the top spot in India, Hyderabad is on the “fast track to becoming India’s Convention Capital”, says the report on the 2014 rankings.
The city is now the capital of Telangana, a southern India state founded in June 2014, and has the country’s only convention bureau. This has played no small part in bringing Hyderabad to the attention of meeting organisers.
Investment has been flowing into Hyderabad with Microsoft, Oracle, Amazon, Citibank, Dell and HSBC among the names with large facilities in the city. Google will be extending its presence here with a new campus, the biggest outside the US, for its Google Firebrand broadband, Street View and education ventures.
Gary Khan, chief executive of Hyderabad Convention Visitors Bureau, says much of the city’s success is technology driven, but alongside the international names and improved infrastructure, are centuries of heritage and culture. This has led to a higher quality of life for the city’s professionals with growing numbers returning from the US and Europe to settle in the new Telangana.
CONNECTIONS
Hyderabad Rajiv Gandhi International Airport – After opening in 2008, 15 overseas destinations are now served, including direct flights to Bangkok, Hong Kong, Kuala Lumpur and Singapore. A strong presence by Gulf carriers extends the global links, while British Airways operates a daily flight
to London and Air India a daily service to Chicago.
While Hyderabad Convention Visitors Bureau is well established, Telangana Tourism came into being last year with the founding of the new state.
VENUES
Hyderabad International Convention Centre – The city’s prime venue is managed by Novotel, which also runs a 287-room international business hotel connected to the facility. The centre hosted the 2012 UN conference on biodiversity, which drew 10,000 participants from 194 countries, including world leaders.
Hyderabad Marriott Hotel & Convention Centre – The 282-guest room hotel has views of Lake Sagar and more than 5,000 sqm of meeting space including garden venues, 10 event rooms and a banquet hall for around 1,300 guests.
Westin Hyderabad Mindspace – The 427-guest room and suite Westin is positioned conveniently in the Raheja IT Park, the city’s tech hub, and has nearly 2,200 sqm of meeting space including the Westin Ballroom and the Evolve conference centre.
EXCURSIONS
Taj Falaknuma Palace – For gala or cultural evenings that capture the opulence and grandeur of the Mughal and Raj eras, this 60-room hotel (above) is a 50-minute drive from the city centre and set amid grounds that overlook Hyderabad.
City tours – Heritage buildings contrast vividly with the city’s hi-tech facilities, and this includes landmarks such as Golconda Fort, which has an evening light show. Tours can also take in Charminar, a mosque that has come to symbolise Hyderabad’s old town, Salar Jung Museum and the Qutub Shahi Tombs – the only recorded site in the world where a whole dynasty is interned.
Taramati Baradari – Cultural programmes and an ethnic Hyderabadi dining experience can be organised in the gardens surrounding this monument,
which is in known in legend as the Dancers Pavilion.
