Category Archives: NTO (National Tourist Offices)

Destination Canada has registered a growth of 33 per cent in Indian arrivals for the month of March, 2017. Destination Canada is aiming to make 2017 a roaring year for tourism. It is engaged with the trade on consistent and sustained basis through activities, workshops and networking sessions so that the travel trade stays updated about Canada and become storytellers to create required enthusiasm and excitement amongst potential travellers. Pooja Sabharwal, Account Director, Destination Canada – India, said, “This manifold rise in arrivals figures shows that all the diverse offerings of Canada are being extensively explored by Indian travellers. There has been a sharp increase in the leisure trips to Canada from India owing to the increased disposable income amongst middle and affluent class travellers. Destination Canada’s effort in showcasing the voyagers what’s hidden inside the country is a major contributor to Canada’s dynamic growth. We are hopeful that the country will be gifted with doubled visitor arrivals on its 150th birthday.”

Switzerland has created a single platform in Mumbai to represent key Swiss interests in diplomacy, trade and investment as well as tourism, along with the continuation of providing consular services to Swiss citizens. The new and integrated set-up located in Nariman Point is considered as a milestone for Switzerland’s presence in India’s financial capital. In February 2016, the visa section in Mumbai was closed and visa processing within India was centralised at the Embassy in New Delhi. Subsequently, the Consulate General was reorganised internally with allocation of additional resources to the culture and public diplomacy department within the new scope of activities. The renovation of the offices began simultaneously. After completion of the remodeling, the Swiss Business Hub India and Switzerland Tourism have come under the single roof of the Consulate General. The grand opening of the new state-of-the-art offices took place on 26 May, 2017. Consul General Martin Bienz welcomed Ambassador Jacques Pitteloud, Director, Directorate for Resources, Federal Department of Foreign Affairs, Dr. Andreas Baum, Ambassador of Switzerland to India, Daniel Küng, CEO of Switzerland Global Enterprise, Jodok Brunner, BBL at the ribbon-cutting ceremony of the new premises. The celebrations continued in the evening at the Trident Hotel followed by a music programme by musicians Sanjay Divecha and Varun Venkit. Ambassador Andreas Baum announced the new public diplomacy campaign for 2017-2018 which will be ‘70 years of Swiss-Indian Friendship, Connecting Minds Inspiring the Future’. The gala reception was attended by representatives from the diplomatic, business and culture communities in Mumbai. The Consulate General of Switzerland in Mumbai was the leading visa-issuing office within the Swiss network abroad, providing up to 80,000 visas per year.

Munich has witness strong gains in the number of Indian arrivals in February 2017, recording an increase of 40 per cent in comparison with the last year. Additionally, there is also an increase in the bed nights, which has grown to 31.46 per cent. “This huge rise in the Indian arrival figures to Munich shows that India has successfully maintained a position of one of the top source markets for the Bavarian capital. We are hopeful that through extensive promotion of the destination among the travel trade and consumers, a steady will be maintained throughout the year,” Minoti Gupta, Manager–Sales, Munich Tourism.

Flight Shop, a wholly owned Indian subsidiary of FCTG, Australia, has announced a joint-partnership with Japan National Tourism Organization (JNTO) and Korea Tourism Organization (KTO) to offer combined holiday packages to the discerning Indian traveller. As both tourism boards come together for the first time, the collaboration intends to strengthen mutual relationships and expand their presence in the Indian market. Commenting on the collaboration, Shravan Gupta, Executive Director – Leisure Businesses, FCM Travel Solutions India, said, “We are extremely delighted to have collaborated with Japan and Korea Tourism boards in India. As a first-of-its-kind, the partnership aligns with our commitment to offer unbeatable escapades to our customers. The popularity of these destinations amongst Indian travellers has driven us to create the finest itineraries with exciting opportunities and unforgettable lifetime experiences. As key long haul destinations, Japan and South Korea have witnessed a robust growth of 30% in Indian outbound travelers; the joint collaboration aims to double this growth over the next few years. As both destinations bet high on India, we will focus primarily on key and emerging metros.” Byungsun Lee, Director, Korea Tourism Organization, said, “We are elated to collaborate with Flight Shop and Japan Tourism Board to promote Far-East in India as we strongly believe that the Korea-Japan combination holiday is a star-offering for Indian market this summer season. Carriers in India (Korean Air, Asiana Airlines, Japan Airways, All Nippon Airways) offer excellent connectivity to both the counties with bare minimum connecting times. Together, South Korea and Japan combined will offer an unmatched experience to Indian travellers, especially to families with theme parks, shopping, etc. as the focus themes.” Kenichi Takano, Executive Director, Japan National Tourism Organisation (JNTO) said, “Japan is a destination for …

Tourism Australia, in partnership with Destination New South Wales, marked the 38th year of its annual travel and tourism business-to-business event – the Australian Tourism Exchange (ATE) at the brand new ICC (International Convention Centre) in Sydney. The event took place from May  15-18, witnessing an attendance of over 2,500 travel industry delegates from over 30 countries with participation from 20 Indian travel companies. This is also marked Tourism Australia’s 50th anniversary. Commenting on the occasion, Nishant Kashikar, Country Manager, India & Gulf, Tourism Australia, said, “ATE plays a critical role in facilitating productive links between Australia’s tourism providers and the global distribution network and has an enormous economic impact. Arrivals from India have seen a significant hike in the last few years and platforms such as the ATE play a huge role in making that happen. Over 20 buyers representing as many companies from India attended ATE17 providing them an incredible opportunity to connect with Australian tourism businesses. We believe this platform will help them curate the best of Australian holiday experiences for our Indian travel enthusiasts. We’re confident that ATE will continue to bolster Australia’s inbound tourism sector and grow visitor economy.” India is currently Australia’s ninth-largest inbound tourism market, with over 260,000 visitors spending A$ 1.24 bn as on December 2016. Companies such as Ascon Travels, Cox & Kings, Cutting Edge, Discover your World, FCM Travel Solutions, Grand Travel Planners, Pathfinders Holidays, Peekay Holidays, Pristine Travels, SOTC, Vibrant Holidays, Voyageur Lifestyles, among others, represented India at ATE17, a testimony to the growing popularity of Australia as a tourism destination for Indians. ATE is Australia’s annual business-to-business tourism travel trade event, focussed on building future tourism opportunities for …

Israel received nearly 350,000 tourists–the maximum number of tourists in a month ever–in April 2017, almost 40 per cent increase from April 2015. The country received 15,000 visitors from India between January–April 2017, which is an increase of 26 per cent over the same period in 2016. Tourism Minister Yariv Levin said, “When there is clear policy, we see results. Every month, we are witnessing exceptional statistics that illustrate the progress we are spearheading in the tourism industry and its tremendous contribution to the Israeli economy and workforce. This important and exciting milestone is part of a positive trend that has been taking place over the last half year or more. I hope and believe that, with hard work, we will continue to reap the benefits of this investment.” In January–April 2017, 1.09 million tourist entries were recorded, an increase of 26% on the same period in 2016 (850,000).  964,000 tourists arrived by air, 24% more than the same period in 2016

Reunion Island has registered a growth of 175.5 per cent from the Indian market in the first quarter of 2017 as compared to the same period last year, according to official statistics shared by Airport Roland Garros, Reunion Island. India also tops the list of top 10 countries in terms of visitor arrivals during this period to the destination. “We have experienced the zeal of Indian travellers to explore new destinations which have unique offerings and have diversity of climate, nature, food, tourism products, like Reunion Island. I am very happy with these encouraging numbers and this wouldn’t be possible without the concentrated marketing efforts of our India’s Representative – Representation World,” said William Techer, Head of Promotion & Marketing India and Indian Ocean, Reunion Island Tourism Board. According to Vineet Gopal, Director-India, Reunion Island Tourism Board, “This figure didn’t come as a surprise to me as I was confident about the destination Reunion Island’s tourism potential and unparalleled support we received from the Head Office in Reunion Island & Air Austral. Furthermore, simplified visa process and free visa for Indian nationals travelling to Reunion Island for 14 days has really helped us to achieve this inspiring growth”. The tourism board has various marketing activities in the pipeline for the upcoming quarter to lure more Indian travellers to the destination.

H.E. Archil Dzuliashvili, Ambassador of Georgia to India, has informed that the Government of Georgia has signed an air service agreement with the Indian Ministry of Civil Aviation to connect six Indian cities with the country. “Soon, we will meet Indian airline companies to launch flight services between both the countries,” he said. The Ambassador also informed that India-Georgia economic relationship will expand manifold in the near future as both the countries are conducting feasibility study to sign free trade agreement (FTA). “Within six months, the report of the study would be ready and we would launch formal negotiation for the agreement. Georgia already has an FTA with the European Union and it has initiated discussion on FTAs with USA and Canada,” the Ambassador added. Indian companies can invest in Georgia and make it a gateway for their entry into European Union. Georgia is located at the crossroads of Western Asia and Eastern Europe. It is establishing rail and road connectivity with Bulgaria, Romania and other neighbouring countries in the Black Sea.

In the run-up to the release of the action adventure film King Arthur: Legend of the Sword, VisitBritain has launched an international film tourism campaign to showcase why Britain is a legendary tourist destination. The ‘Where Stories Become Legends’ campaign inspires people to book a King Arthur-themed holiday to Britain using #OMGBLegends. “Our collaboration with Warner Bros. Pictures on King Arthur: Legend of the Sword is a fantastic opportunity to showcase to a global audience of millions the legendary experiences only available in Britain, inspiring people to book a trip right now to discover their own epic stories,” says Clare Mullin, Director of Marketing, VisitBritain. The campaign drives online ‘traffic’ to a VisitBritain King Arthur: Legend of the Sword site on visitbritain.com filled with information on British locations from the film and King Arthur-inspired holiday experiences available in 13 languages.

New Zealand has witnessed a steady increase in arrivals from India with 53,424 travellers visiting there as of March 2017, a 14.9 per cent growth from same period last year. To further boost the Indian tourist numbers, Tourism New Zealand is tying up with two airlines to promote the island country in the India sub-continent. The partnership between Tourism New Zealand, Singapore Airlines and Air New Zealand is valid from May 2017 to April 2018 and will seek to position Air New Zealand and Singapore Airlines as the preferred carriers for travelling to the country and promotional fares will be offered to passengers. The strategic partnership aims to encourage more travellers from key cities like Delhi, Mumbai, Bengaluru, Chennai, Hyderabad, Kolkata, Ahmedabad, Kochi, Coimbatore, Thiruvananthapuram and Vishakhapatnam. “New Zealand is the ultimate destination for many Indian travellers and special promotional fares provide a great opportunity to turn their dream holiday into reality,” said Tourism New Zealand regional manager, South and South East Asia, Steven Dixon. Elaborating on the initiative, David Lim, General Manager, India, said, “We offer 98 weekly connections from 11 cities in India to Singapore and together with our partner – Air New Zealand, we provide over 25 weekly, onward connections to three cities (Auckland, Christchurch and Wellington) in New Zealand.” Scott Carr, Regional General Manager-Asia, Air New Zealand, said, “India is one of our fastest-growing emerging markets and we’re excited about the potential of this campaign to reach more Indian travellers. Through our alliance and code share services with Singapore Airlines, we connect passengers from 11 Indian cities to Singapore, where they can access three non-stop flights a day to New Zealand.”