Category Archives: NTO (National Tourist Offices)

Arrivals from India to Australia grew by 15 per cent for the year ended October 2017, with an influx of 294,000 visitors, compared to the same period last year. This makes India the 9th largest inbound market for Australia, and inches it closer towards achieving its Tourism 2020 goal of 300,000 visitors annually, three years ahead of target. Indian visitor spend in Australia for the year ended September 2017 reached AUD 1.45 billion (approx. Rs. 7,200 crore), an increase of 26 per cent over the previous year, making India the 8th largest market in terms of spend by tourists. With an impressive double-digit growth in arrivals and spend for the fourth consecutive year, India has emerged as Australia’s fastest growing inbound market. Tania Gerlach, Chief Migration Officer, Department of Immigration and Border Protection (DIBP) commented, “We are extremely pleased with the success of the e-lodgment process, with over 60 per cent of the total tourist visa applications now received online. The month of November 2017 has witnessed the highest-ever tourist visa lodgments. Online lodgment offers benefits such as 24/7 accessibility, electronic payment of the visa application charge and the ability to check the status of applications lodged online. Processing times for these visas will now be faster, as both applications and supporting documentation are immediately available to the processing office. This is good news for every Indian visitor planning to visit Australia, whether they are travelling for business or pleasure”. Commenting on the success, Nishant Kashikar, Country Manager, India and Gulf, Tourism Australia, said, “It is an extremely proud moment for us to achieve the fastest growing market status in our 50th anniversary year of marketing Australia to the world …

The Nijhawan Group has been appointed as the Tourism Representative in India for Bosnia and Herzegovina. Commenting on this partnership, Ankush Nijhawan, Managing Director, Nijhawan Group, added, “With Indian nationals looking for newer experiences and destinations, the demand for relatively new entrants like Bosnia and Herzegovina is only poised to grow. It is an exciting time for outbound tourism, and the Indian traveller will only benefit from this trend. Since Bosnia and Herzegovina is a new destination in the Indian market, we will actively work with the trade community to enhance their knowledge about the destination as well as help them in curating exciting itineraries for their clients since the country is a treasure trove of history.” Dr. Sabit Subasic, Ambassador of Bosnia and Herzegovina to India, said, “Bosnia and Herzegovina is predicted to be, according to World Tourism Organization, one of the fastest growing tourism destinations of the world in the period till 2025. And that prediction is getting confirmed and visible. Bosnia and Herzegovina is already known as a very attractive tourism destination and many tourists from all over the world come to this country. From India, however, we would like to welcome more tourists since we see potential in this market. Therefore, we decided to develop a strategy and promote Bosnia and Herzegovina as a tourism destination for Indian tourists.”

The Tourism Department of Seychelles has launched a new leaflet providing tips to hikers, especially tourists, keen to explore Seychelles’ walks and trails. The leaflet has been produced by the Risk Management Section within the Tourism Department, in collaboration with other partners including the Seychelles National Parks Authority and Seychelles police. Minister for Tourism, Civil Aviation, Ports and Marine, Maurice Loustau-Lalanne, said, “This goes well with the Seychelles brand as the country is a champion of a clean environment and when we engage in activities such as trekking this also helps us to maintain a healthy lifestyle.” The leaflet is available on the Tourism Department’s website. Physical copies are also being distributed to the various stakeholders including the tourism establishments, SNPA, police, tourist information office, among others. It has taken around five months to produce the document. The leaflet also has a list of essential numbers to be contacted in case of emergency. According to Chief Superintendent Sean Jacklin, the police records at least one incident of tourists being lost on trails every two months, but they are usually provided with assistance within 12 to 24 hours. The Seychelles National Parks Authority is also collaborating with the Seychelles Tourism Board to design a smartphone app, which will present the new Seychelles Hiking Guide launched by STB in a digital format, also allowing hikers to access a host of other features.

Nine leading travel agents from India were among 130 other agents from 16 countries to attend the 7th Israel ‘Where Else’ Tourism Conference held by the Israel Ministry of Tourism for the world travel industry. The travel agents from India were accompanied by Hassan Madah, Director, Israel Ministry of Tourism, India and Philippines. The group explored beach tourism in Eilat and Dead Sea, tours in the North focusing on religion and history and city breaks in Tel Aviv- Jaffa and Jerusalem. In addition, business meetings were held between the Indian delegates and Israeli wholesalers and hoteliers. Elaborating on this Fam, Madah said, “Israel has witnessed another year of record breaking tourist arrivals with over 55,000 Indians who have travelled to the country through November 2017. It was important for us to showcase Israel to key Indian travel trade through our biggest annual tourism conference in Israel. The conference was a wonderful experience that exposed the Indian travel trade to varied offerings and experiences in Israel.” The week-long convention aimed to expose attendees to the tourism brands in Israel along with the country’s recreation, entertainment and leisure options.

The Department of Tourism, Philippines, branded taxis and buses in Mumbai and Delhi in order to increase the visibility of the archipelago. Her Excellency Ma. Teresita C.Daza, Ambassador, Republic of Philippines to India, inaugurated the promotional campaign with 50 taxis in Mumbai and two HOHO buses in New Delhi. Addressing the gathering, she said, “DOT Philippines has been very active in India in promoting it as a tourism destination. We have launched around 50 taxis, and it will hopefully raise interest and awareness about the Philippines as a tourist destination. We have been doing pretty well in terms of tourist arrivals and we are hoping to increase the numbers further in the coming years. Currently India is at 12th rank in terms of arrivals to the Philippines. During January-July this year, 72,498 Indian tourists travelled to the Philippines as compared to 60,658 tourists for the same period last year, registering a growth of 28.41 per cent. It was made possible by the hardwork of Buzz Travel Marketing India and also the growing interest of people about the Philippines as a tourist destination.”    

The German National Tourist Office (GNTO), India launched its online destination training programme in India on December 14, via an online webinar attended by over 450 operators. The step comes in the light of the increasing number of Indian visitors to Germany and a request from the travel fraternity for a training module on the destination. The online programme would provide Indian tour operators and travel agents with an in-depth knowledge required to market the destination persuasively to their clients. Romit Theophilus, Director Sales and Marketing, GNTO, India said, “Over the years, we have repeatedly received requests from our trade partners to start an online training programe, which could be referred to by them whilst planning itineraries and travel programmes for their clients; hence the launch of www.germanyspecialist.com. The program consists of four informative modules: Module 1 – Introduction to Germany, Module 2 – Discover the German Federal States/ Regions; Module 3 – Theme-based Travel and Module 4 – Special Scenic Routes. We expect this module to serve as a one-stop shop for all the operators’ queries on destination Germany.”

Vishal Bhatia has been promoted to take on the role of Country Manager – India at VisitBritain effective immediately. Based in Mumbai, he will be taking on the day-to-day aspects of VisitBritain’s operations in India. He has been associated with the tourist board since February 2013 when he started out as Deputy Manager and subsequently appointed as the B2B Manager. Bhatia was Interim Country Manager from June-December 2016. He has been integral in delivering the India strategy, while leading on all B2B activities in the market. He was also instrumental in delivering the first joint co-operative partnership under GREAT in 2013. Bhatia has extensive market knowledge and expertise of the local travel landscape. Shuja Mehdi who is based in VisitBritain’s Delhi office will also assume a new role and be responsible for all trade activity as the B2B Manager. On his appointment, Bhatia says, “I thank our travel partners and the travel trade at large for their continued support over the years and look forward to working closely with them.”

Anticipating a significant increase in Indian arrivals into the Philippines, the Department of Tourism (DOT), Philippines signed a Memorandum of Agreement with Singapore International Airlines (SIA) on December 12. Through the one-year collaboration, DOT and SIA will undertake joint marketing initiatives that will implement activities to promote the Philippines to the Indian market through social media, familiarisation tours, roadshows, among others. The agreement was signed by Benito Bengzon Jr., Undersecretary, DOT  and Campbell Wilson, Senior Vice President for Sales and Marketing, SIA at the Makati Diamond Residences, Philippines. “The India market is growing at a very fast rate. In fact, we are expecting to reach 100,000 arrivals by end of 2017. This joint agreement is envisioned to sustain and further strengthen this growth in the coming years,” said Bengzon. He also disclosed that the department is not only looking at the headcount but also with the revenue it would generate. According to Wilson, this mutually beneficial agreement will pave way for a positive impact on the country’s tourism industry. “We are confident we can increase visitor arrivals; it is an honour to bring our passengers anywhere in the Philippines,” he said.  

Visit St Petersburg India announced the opening of its office in Mumbai. Located at the Russian Centre of Science & Culture at Peddar Road, the office was inaugurated by Elena Fedorova, Deputy Chair of the committee for Industrial policy & Innovation, Government of Saint Petersburg. The event was attended by delegates from St. Petersburg, MTDC, MCGM, TAAI, TAFI and leading travel agents. Evgeny Pankevich, General Director, Saint Petersburg City Tourist Information Bureau, said, “There has been an increase of interest in tourism from India to St. Petersburg and by the end of this year, we expect to record 1,00,000 Indian tourists to Russia which is an increase of 30 per cent. We see this as a good opportunity and therefore, we opened the tourism office in Delhi earlier this year and now we are here in Mumbai. This is a great moment to open the office as we are celebrating Days of St. Petersburg in Mumbai, marking the 50th anniversary of St. Petersburg and Mumbai’s sister –city status that was established in 1967.” The new office in Mumbai will give Visit St. Petersburg a strategic access to some of the most important source market regions in western and southern India.

Switzerland Tourism, in an effort to catalyse tourism development across India, has introduced several new attractions, experiences and activities for both popular and lesser known destinations in Switzerland. The recently conducted annual roadshow in India across cities of Mumbai, Hyderabad, Ahmedabad, Chennai and Delhi witnessed over 900 participants from the travel and tourism trade industry. A special B2B session was held in each city allowing the Indian travel agents to meet and discusses business prospects with the Swiss delegations. Claudio Zemp, Director – India, Switzerland Tourism, said, “This year has been a remarkable year for Switzerland Tourism with Ranveer Singh coming on board and promoting the destination with his charm, unmatched energy and fun personality which thoroughly matches the image Switzerland Tourism wanted to portray. In terms of growth from India, we had a fantastic year with a year to date growth of 25.1 per cent more overnights. We are thankful to our partners for their continued support and we hope that we welcome more tourists for the upcoming season.” Ritu Sharma, Deputy Director, Switzerland Tourism, India, says, “In the past few years, Switzerland tourism has upped the ante to attract more tourists from India. Apart from the key metros, we are also penetrating into Tier I & II cities by conducting training sessions in these markets to ensure that the travel trade is well equipped to answer queries relating to our offerings.” ­­­­­­