Category Archives: NTO (National Tourist Offices)

The Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT) has launched a ‘Little Chiang Mai’ guidebook in English, bringing together the city’s independent bookshops, secret restaurants and museums, as well as the province’s bicycle and running routes in a set of five bona fide designer pocketbooks for readers to use or collect. TAT Governor, Yuthasak Supasorn said Little Chiang mai’s latest English edition, would be an unique guide for international travellers looking to discover Thailand’s ‘Rose of the North’ from a new perspective. The book set combines Chiang Mai’s culture, gastronomy and art in a way that brings the city to life in a new light, targeting young active travellers looking to discover its hidden gems along running or cycling routes. He noted that it is unique both in form and content and consists of five individual sections: ‘Ride’, ‘Run’, ‘Restaurants’, ‘Gallery Museum’ and ‘Bookshops’. The initial brief from TAT was to create a map of Chiang Mai’s bookshops, restaurants and museums that bring together the city’s local establishments with bicycle and running routes in Chiang Mai being added as a bonus. What differentiates Little Chiang mai from most guidebooks is each section has a character that is relatable to its content, which is divided into five individual pocketbooks distributed within the one package.

Tourism Fiji will have a refreshed Matai specialist programme with enhanced tools for agents with a more dynamic interface that will be launched soon. Revealing this is Seema Kadam, Country Manager – India, Tourism Fiji, who adds, “We are already in the process of doing a lot of trade and consumer engagement programmes via our key stakeholders, and through conducting  trade trainings and trade famils. We are also keen to work on B2C platforms like radio, television and host bloggers and travel journalists on a famil which will help spread awareness about Fiji’s offerings.” Fiji started the year with the announcement of its Brand Ambassador actor Ileana Dcruz and the appointment of Kadam as the Country Manager for India. “The focus for 2018 is both on driving awareness of the destination through the B2C medium as well as driving conversions with our trade partners. We have a comprehensive trade calendar planned to achieve this in 2018,” she adds.

The South Australian Tourism Commission (SATC) expects that the number of visitors from India will increase in anticipation of the upcoming cricket series set to be held between India and Australia in Adelaide in December this year. The Adelaide Oval will host the first Test Match, scheduled for December 6-10, 2018, which is expected to attract a large number of Indian visitors to Adelaide. In addition to focusing on attracting honeymooners, families and independent travellers between the age of 25-45 years in the primary markets of Mumbai, Delhi, Bengaluru and Chennai, SATC is also working to attract cricket lovers this year. This will be executed through SATC’s influencer, media, marketing and trade partnerships throughout 2018. Commenting on the announcement, Dana Urmonas, Regional Director (India & Southeast Asia), SATC said, “We look forward to hosting Indian cricket enthusiasts and travellers for the Test Match. Adelaide witnessed a surge in Indian tourist arrivals during the ICC India-Pakistan World Cup in 2015 and we’re confident this December will be no different. The match gives us a unique opportunity to showcase Adelaide and its surrounding regions to Indian travellers and cricket enthusiasts alike.” Speaking on Adelaide Oval hosting the game, Laura Robinson, Tourism Manager, Adelaide Oval said, “Adelaide Oval has hosted some historic games in the past and we believe that this time will be no different. India and Australia have shared excellent cricketing ties over the years.”

The number of foreign tourist arrivals to India during July 2017 amounted to 788,000, up from 734,000 during February the previous year. The largest number foreign tourist arrivals are usually seen in December and January during the winter season when temperatures are more bearable, according to a report by Ministry of Tourism. In 2016, December has been the peak month for FTAs in India, said the report titled “India Tourism Statistics 2017”. December was peak for countries like USA, UK, Bangladesh, Canada, Australia, Malaysia, Russia and Singapore. The peak season is followed by November, January, February and March, the report said. The shares of FTAs in February, March, July, September and December in 2016 has increased as compared to 2015. For China, Japan and Germany, November was the peak month, the report added.  

The number of Indian nationals’ departures from India during 2016 registered a growth of 7.3 per cent over 2015 as compared to 11.1 per cent growth in 2015, according to a report by Ministry of Tourism. In 2016, approximately 21.87 million Indian nationals departed on outbound travels, up from 20.38 million the previous year. During 2016, top three air ports for departures of Indian nationals’ from India were from Mumbai, Delhi and Cochin airport. These three airports accounted for 51.93 per cent of total departures in 2016, the report said. During 2015, Mumbai, Delhi and Cochin airport had a percentage share of 21.96 per cent, 20.08 and 9.62 per cent respectively, the report added. The Indian nationals’s departures rose with a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 10.17 per cent.

Visit Victoria has announced that India has now become its fourth largest inbound market with overnight visitor expenditure of $392 million and a growth of 22.3 per cent. During the end of December 2017, it recorded around 1,44,200 Indian visitors coming to Australia, a 22.6 per cent year on year increase. Speaking at the press conference Carmen Smith, Head of International Markets, Visit Victoria commented, “The Indian market has been very exciting for Visit Victoria just till December 2017 we had around 1, 44, 200 Indian tourist arrivals which is only till December while our year ends in June. Our target was to achieve 8 per cent growth from India while currently we are at a growth of over 22 percent so we have been very excited about the growth from India.” Indian visitors spent a total of 5.5m nights in Melbourne. Indian tourists have been visiting Victoria for various purposes including leisure holiday, business, visiting friends or relatives (VFR). 51 percent of the visitor expenditure from Indian visitors came from the education sector. The VFR segment recorded 72,000 Indian visitors travel  to Victoria. Melbourne is all set to host Indian in 2018 for the upcoming India-Australia Boxing Day cricket match 2018. It will also be hosting the ICC World T20 men’s and women’s final in 20020.

Alphons Kannanthanam, Minister of State (I/C) for Tourism has said that India’s Tourism sector is fast growing and has got an emerging market for outbound travel and a tremendous potential for tourism co-operation with the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) region. He was speaking while attending the SCO Tourism Ministers’ conference in Wuhan in China. At the sidelines of the event on May 9, the minister also met Chinese Tourism and Culture Vice Minister Li Jinzao. The visit of the team headed by Kannanthanam was in continuation of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s  recent visit to China wherein it was agreed to increase the co-operation between India and China in Defence, External Affairs and Tourism.  

India and Cambodia has agreed to  strengthen tourism cooperation, particularly with regards to start a direct air link between Phnom Penh and New Delhi. This decison was taken after a joint committee meeting between officials from Cambodia and India in Siem Reap, to discuss cooperation in the tourism industry as part of a high-level dialogue mechanism. Earlier this week, Phnom Penh hosted the ‘Incredible India Road Show’, which aimed to promote India as a destination for Cambodian tourists, as well as to create new partnerships between Indian and local companies in the tourism industry. Rashmi Verma, Secretary-Tourism, Government of India, said the committee is now working on a strategy to further collaboration between the countries in tourism. “Stronger cooperation in tourism will be beneficial for both countries in terms of economic growth and job creation,” she said. The flow of tourists between Cambodian and India has increased remarkably in the last few years, said Thong Khon,  Cambodian Minister of Tourism. He said many Cambodians travel to India to visit religious landmarks, while Indians like to visit the Kingdom to experience local weddings or as part of pilgrimages. “In many ways, both countries have a similar appeal for tourists, and both have huge potential for tourism. This is why we need to boost cooperation with India in the sector,” Khon said. Khon and Ms Tashmi said they are now conducting talks with civil aviation bodies to expedite the creation of a direct air link.

Tapping on the success story of great advancements achieved by Israel in the agricultural sector over the years, Israel Ministry of Tourism is now bullish on the growth of Agritourism in the country. Israel is hosting the 20th edition of Agritech Israel 2018, one of the world’s most important exhibitions in the field of agricultural technologies, innovations and food processing.  From May 8 to 10, the exposition is held at the Israel Trade Fairs and Convention Centre in Tel Aviv and is attended by the Minister of State for Agriculture from the Government of India. Government officials, including representatives from the states of Maharashtra, Punjab, Haryana and Gujarat are also present at Agritech Israel 2018.  Moreover, around 3000 travellers belonging to industries like Dairy, Irrigation, Organic Farming, Natural Fertilizers/ Pesticides and Water Harvesting are in attendance from India. Talking about the growing Agritourism from India, Hassan Madah, Director, Israel Ministry of Tourism – India & Philippines said, “Israel has had breakthrough achievements in the field of agriculture and is poised to play a major role in supplying the world with cutting-edge agricultural solutions. By developing world’s best irrigation methods for ecological farming, Israel has much to offer the world in farming know-how. Agritourism is an effective way to tap into that know-how. Through Agritech, 2018 and other such initiatives, we are witnessing a tourism boom in the agriculture sector of Israel from India. Many professionals are opting for an average of 5 nights 6 days Israel agri-tours and we are positive that Agritourism will successfully contribute to the Indian tourist arrivals to Israel in 2018.”  

The Institute of Tourism of Spain has launched ‘Spain in 10 seconds’, a new tourism promotion campaign which is based on personal recommendations and motivations to visit Spain expressed by a dozen of Spanish personalities related with culture, cinema, fashion, sports and gastronomy. Each one from his/her personal approach shows his/her favorite experiences and destinations of the Spanish geography through short videos in selfie format. The first of the ambassadors who are part of the campaign is the psychiatrist Luis Rojas Marcos. Designer Agatha Ruiz de la Prada and the badminton player Carolina Marin will also participate. The rest will be unveiled bit by bit over the coming months. This new campaign which is being carried out on social networks and digital media has a budget of two million Euros and the target audience is the tourist segment characterized by its high propensity to spend on the destination to which it travels and with a high index of affinity for more experiential activities. It also serves as a great catalyst to seasonally adjust the tourist demand. This campaign will be broadcasted in 15 countries and is based on a strategy of segmentation by profiles of interest that can reach tourists based on their place of origin, their motivations when travelling and their affinity with each of the celebrities.