Category Archives: NTO (National Tourist Offices)

Tourism Fiji has announced the appointment of Seema Kadam as its Country Manager for India. She will be based in Mumbai and will be responsible for Tourism Fiji’s activities across India. Kadam brings with her an abundance of knowledge of the travel industry and products as well as great interpersonal and business development skills. Having worked and excelled at other international tourism companies such as Switzerland Tourism, where she was the Area Manager, she is well qualified to lead the team in India for Tourism Fiji. Matthew Stoeckel, CEO, Tourism Fiji, said, “India is a strategically important market for us and one that has significant potential for sustainable long-term growth. This new appointment is the first of many steps we have taken to increase visitor arrivals from India and further promote Fiji within the India market. Visitor arrivals from India have grown by 24 per cent over the last three years and we hope to drive these numbers up further.”

Cox & Kings Global Services (CKGS) and The Embassy of the Kingdom of Morocco hosted a joint event in Delhi. The occasion was graced by His Excellency Mohamed Maliki, the Ambassador of the Kingdom of Morocco, along with the senior management of Cox & Kings Ltd. The event showcased Moroccan culture and various tourist attraction in Morocco from the imperial cities to stunning beaches. “I’m honoured to co-host the travel agents event together with CKGS, which gives us opportunity to promote the Kingdom of Morocco as an Authentic and Exotic destination and showcases the numerous Tourism potential it has. Foreseeing growth and significance of the Indian tourism market to Morocco, we are also planning to open of a full-fledged Moroccan National Tourism Office in Delhi very soon.” said His Excellency, Mohamed Maliki. CKGS has recently opened Morroco Visa application centres in different cities of India including Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata, Chennai, Ahmedabad, Pune, Goa and Indore. Centres in more cities will be opened shortly. “We provide visa application services to Indians travelling to Morocco through our various offices in India. we have taken one more step further to promote Indian outbound travel to Morocco by partnering with The Embassy of the Kingdom of Morocco for this event.” said Venku Murthi, Chief Operating Officer, CKGS.

The fourth edition of the global culinary event, ‘Goût de France’, an initiative of the French Ministry of Europe and Foreign Affairs in collaboration with French Embassies worldwide and Atout France, will amass a staggering 3,300 restaurants in 150 countries and five continents that will all serve French-styled menus to its patrons on March 21, 2018. Each participating restaurant will donate 5 per cent of the proceeds of this evening towards a local NGO. This year, 63 restaurants across India will be celebrating the flavours of French cuisine. As a prelude to the event, networking soirees for the travel trade fraternity and media are hosted by Consular services in different Indian cities and on the day of the event, a reception is hosted in New Delhi at the Residence of France under the patronage of His Excellency, Ambassador of France to India. Goût de France will also pay homage to legendary chef Paul Bocuse who was symbolic to French cuisine for half a century. Participating chefs will be invited to present a dish from his repertoire or an inspired creation. The event will honour the Nouvelle-Aquitaine region renowned for its exquisite French wine, with the global brand of Bordeaux, rich in various gastronomy and wine experiences.

Visitor arrivals from India to Australia have crossed the 300,000 mark as recorded by the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) for the year ended December 2017, an increase of 15.4 per cent over the previous year. India is also currently the eighth-largest and the fastest-growing inbound travel market for Australia, and has recorded double-digit growth for the fourth consecutive year. The growing appetite for Australian holidays has been fueled by Tourism Australia’s consumer marketing campaign – ‘There’s Nothing Like Australia’. Commenting on this achievement, Nishant Kashikar, Country Manager, Tourism Australia India and Gulf said, “We are delighted at having crossed the 300k mark for arrivals into Australia from India, and are extremely grateful to all our partners and stakeholders for being with us on this journey. There has been a consistent effort at the introduction of new products and experiences from a trade distribution perspective and innovative direct to consumer communication initiatives that have been implemented to build and sustain Australia’s preference as a holiday destination.” In mid-2017, the Australian Department of Immigration and Border Protection extended online lodgment of visitor visa applications to all Indian nationals. The online application process provides a more convenient option for Indians looking to visit Australia.

Seychelles Tourism Board is set to conduct roadshows at Kolkata, Pune and Bengaluru. The pre-fixed meetings format which was introduced last year will continue this year as well. Sherin Francis, CEO, Seychelles Tourism Board, says, “Last year’s roadshow allowed top agents to meet all partners in a quick pre-fixed meeting of 15 minutes each in a round-robin flow. This no-frills format focused on serious business generation and ensured that every agent invited could spend quality time with every partner from Seychelles.” For 2018, the tourism board plans to conduct workshops with its key B2B partners in cities of Raipur, Indore, Kochi, Coimbatore, Baroda, Surat and Rajkot. “We will also continue to meet and educate agents in main cities that will include Mumbai, Delhi, Ahmedabad, Bengaluru, Chennai, Pune and Kolkata. We plan to support tour operators with incentive-based trainings to encourage bigger numbers to Seychelles,” Francis adds. Seychelles Tourism Boards recently hosted an appreciation evening in Mumbai to acknowledge high performers from the travel trade in association with Air Seychelles. India emerged as the seventh-largest source market for Seychelles with an arrival of 13,518 tourists from India in 2017 which indicated a 23 per cent growth compared to 2016. In 2018, the tourism board expects a similar percentage growth.  

French President Emmanuel Macron hosted the signing of an agreement between the French Ministry of Culture, represented by Minister Francoise Nyssen and the French Heritage Foundation (Fondation du Patrimoine) represented by its president, Guillaume Poitrinal, relative to the use of government funds that will be generated by a new lottery known as the Heritage Lotto. Signatories also included Stéphane Bern (popular history & heritage Radio and TV show host) and Stéphane Pallez, CEO of ‘Française des Jeux,’ France’s national lottery authority. In the next three years or more, the drawing of the Heritage Lotto will take place during the European Heritage Days and proceeds will go to the French Heritage Foundation and will be earmarked for the restoration of architectural treasures throughout France. The inaugural drawing will be on September 14, 2018 one day before the European Heritage Days (Journées Européennes du Patrimoine) to be held September 14 and 15, 2018. A scratch-off game will also be offered. Last September, the French President enlisted Stephane Bern’s assistance in identifying and listing France’s imperiled architectural heritage and help find novel ways to finance their restoration. One of these solutions was to create a new lottery, which was voted into law on December 28, 2017. The French National Lottery estimates that the Heritage lotto will raise between 15 and 20 million Euros. Additional funding managed by the French Heritage Foundation will include corporate sponsoring and crowd funding. Stephane Bern will head the committee that will select among the 1800 restoration projects inventoried by the French Heritage Foundation and by the French Ministry of Culture that will receive financial aid from the special fund. Applications for funding are taken online by the Ministry …

ExploreGB 2018, the two-day flagship event which brings together Britain’s travel trade with international buyers from key inbound markets, kicked off at Metro Radio Arena, Newcastle on March 1. ExploreGB brings together 310 suppliers and 287 hosted buyers along with 16 international media from 40 countries. From India, 23 buyers are participating at the event. Delivering the welcome address, Carol Dray, Commercial Director, VisitBritain, talked about Newcastle Gateshead being a modern city with a fantastic art scene and some first-class conference facilities. The year 2017 has seen great growth numbers from long haul markets for Britain with the growth being driven by holiday visitors, while business visits have seen a decline of -4 per cent.

Having witnessed a robust growth of 42 per cent in tourist arrivals and overnights from the Indian market in 2017, VisitFinland has reinstated their focus in the India market through the appointment of Sara Sodhi Juneja based in New Delhi to head VisitFinland activities in India. Dr. Jukka Holappa, Trade Commissioner for Business Finland India, shared, “Sara brings a wealth of her hospitality and tourism experience to this important strategic role and we are delighted to welcome her to head VisitFinland in India. Aligning with the growing potential of India market and our global expansion strategy, VisitFinland has decided to foray again into the Indian market”. Juneja shared, “My role will focus on developing our strategy devised for the Indian market and strengthening relationships with the travel trade to increase visitation and length of stay by Indians in Finland. In parallel, we will also work in close collaboration with the Indian media as communication is an integral part of our strategy. The key focus for 2018 is to encourage the Indian travel trade to increase their knowledge of Finland. For the same, we will organise roadshows and Fam trips throughout the year to give the Indian travel trade and media a first-hand experience of the destination.”  

For the third time in a row, visitor arrivals from India to Singapore has crossed the 1 million mark in 2017, reinforcing it as one of the most preferred destinations for Indian travellers. Singapore Tourism Board (STB) announced that India has recorded the highest growth rate of 16 per cent among all markets. While Mumbai, Chennai, Delhi and Bangalore continue to remain their top VA source cities, STB’s efforts to engage travellers from Ahmedabad, Coimbatore, Hyderabad, Jaipur, Kolkata and Pune have resulted in double-digit VA growth. GB Srithar, Regional Director – SAMEA, Singapore Tourism Board, said “We thank the Indian travellers and our travel trade partners for the record 1.27 million Indian visitors to our country in 2017. We are happy that Singapore continues to be perceived as one of the must-visit destinations. This year, STB will focus on expanding partnership with travel trade partners and promoting our new brand creatively. India continued to be the top source market for VA in the cruise segment for Singapore. 127,000 cruise passengers from India sailed out of Singapore’s shores in 2017, a year-on-year increase of 25 per cent from 2016. 2017 was a landmark year for STB as it unveiled the country’s new, unified brand identity ‘Passion made Possible’ in August.  

Jean-Baptiste Lemoyne, Secretary of State at the Ministry for Europe and Foreign Affairs, presented a new version and unveiled a new logo of Atout France, the online portal for destination France. The goal of welcoming 100 million tourists to France in 2020 involves bolstering the vitality of destination France and showcasing its globally renowned destination brands. A global budget of 2 million Euros was dedicated to the transformation of the digital ecosystem of France.fr. Devised to inspire the visitor and create an immediate desire to travel, France.fr currently represents a showcase of the very best of art de vivre across territories. It illustrates at once the creativity, conviviality and vitality of a France that is innovative, contemporary and cultural, constantly renewing that which it has to offer. The site places an accent on French creativity in the major sectors of touristic development, as well as on tourism knowledge hubs. The international version of the France.fr website is available in French and English. During the first quarter of 2018, the content appearing on this version will be translated into 14 other languages to meet the needs of international visitors.