Category Archives: NTO (National Tourist Offices)

To further elevate Singapore’s presence in India, the Singapore Tourism Board (STB), Changi Airport Group (CAG), and Sentosa Development Corporation (SDC) have announced a year-long partnership, marking their first-ever tripartite collaboration focused on the Indian market. This partnership will run from 1 April 2025 to 31 March 2026, and is established to amplify Singapore’s brand visibility, foster deeper engagement with India’s travel trade, and boost awareness of drive excitement around Sentosa’s wide range of offerings and enhance Singapore’s positioning as a global aviation hub. The collaboration will focus on introducing refreshed experiences in Singapore, with a special emphasis on targeting higher-yield Indian travellers. It will also include the Friends of Singapore Fellowship (FOSF) programme, which will bring 30 influential Indian digital content creators to Singapore. These influencers will create engaging, shareable content that highlights curated experiences across Singapore, including Sentosa Island, and Changi Airport, to shape a refreshed and exciting image of Singapore in the eyes of Indian consumers. Juliana Kua, Assistant Chief Executive, International Group, Singapore Tourism Board said: “Building on the success of our roadshows and the strong interest from the Indian market, this tripartite partnership with Changi Airport Group and Sentosa Development Corporation will help us drive deeper engagement and create memorable experiences for Indian travellers. It reflects our ongoing commitment to strengthening the ties between Singapore and India, while presenting new opportunities for the travel trade to explore and share.”

Los Angeles Tourism is back with Series 2 of its exclusive webinar for the travel trade today at 3 PM IST. Get the latest updates from our partners on the city’s top offerings and experiences. Participate in the quiz and win Amazon gift vouchers. For more information or to register, please contact Jaspreet Kaur at jaspreet.kaur@ddppl.com or 9650196532.

Los Angeles Tourism is hosting a series of webinars for the travel trade starting from today at 3pm IST, showcasing latest tourism offerings. Participate in the quiz to gain valuable tourism insights and updates and stand a chance to win prizes. For more information or to register, please contact Jaspreet Kaur at jaspreet.kaur@ddppl.com or 9650196532.

Perfectly located amidst nature and mountains, Zurich is Switzerland’s largest city. Its touristic offerings include multiple excursion options, shopping, gastronomic experiences and a vibrant nightlife. Attend all webinars for a chance to win a trip to Switzerland in 2026! For more information, write to jaspreet.kaur@ddppl.com or 9650196532.

VisitBritain CEO Patricia Yates, says, “We want more regional destinations across Britain to feel tourism’s economic benefits. Our recently launched global ‘Starring GREAT Britain’ campaign is using the powerful draw of screen tourism to showcase our vibrant cities, contemporary culture and beautiful coast and countryside, alongside our welcome, encouraging visitors to broaden their itineraries, stay longer and to come now.”

South Africa’s Department of Home Affairs’ ground-breaking digital platform for the Trusted Tour Operator Scheme (TTOS) has gone live. This platform will drive increased tourism from the major source markets of India and China by enabling vetted and approved tour operators to submit group applications for large tour groups from these two countries. This addresses a long-standing obstacle to tourism growth, whereby long queues, red tape and the inability to process group applications timeously led to inefficiency in the issuing of visas for tourists from these countries. To illustrate the scale of the change: before TTOS was created, there were only two South African missions in China, and only two missions in India, to serve the 2.8 billion people living in those two countries who wanted to come as tourists to South Africa. But under the new TTOS digital-first system, tourists from India and China who use approved tour operators will no longer have to visit a mission, will no longer fill in a single form, will not need to stand in a single queue, and will receive their visas digitally within three days. In 2023, South Africa only received 37 000 tourists from China and only 79 000 from India. By enhancing visa efficiency and security through TTOS, Home Affairs looks forward to enabling much faster tourism growth from these two burgeoning source markets. The Minister of Home Affairs, Dr Leon Schreiber, said: “The fact that Home Affairs took the TTOS from conceptualisation to implementation in less than six months demonstrates our commitment to embracing digital transformation and to playing our role as an economic enabler to create jobs. Research has shown that for every twelve new tourists attracted by TTOS, we …

Indian tourism to South Korea has witnessed remarkable growth with 176,668 Indian visitors in 2024—a 44% increase from 2023. To push these numbers further, KTO launched its latest trade-focused initiatives, including the Korea Premium Travel Consultant (KPTC) program, K-Incentive Scheme 3.0, and MICE support programs. Myong Kil Yun, Regional Director – India & SAARC Countries, KTO, says, “Our target for 2025 is to welcome 18.5 million global visitors, including 250,000 from India through these initiatives.”

Türkiye has reinforced its position as a leading global tourism destination in 2024, achieving unprecedented growth across key markets and setting new benchmarks in visitor numbers and revenue generation. The country hosted 62.2 million visitors in 2024, marking a 9.8% year-on-year growth and an impressive 20.3% increase compared to pre-pandemic levels in 2019. This remarkable performance demonstrates Türkiye’s successful strategy in diversifying its tourism offerings and expanding its global appeal. Tourism revenue reached a historic high of 61.1 billion USD in 2024, representing an 8.3% increase from the previous year. This growth was accompanied by a strong average visitor spend of USD 972, reflecting the country’s successful positioning in the premium travel segment. The extended average stay duration of 10.7 days further demonstrates Türkiye’s ability to engage visitors with its diverse attractions and experiences. The Indian market has emerged as a particularly strong growth driver, with visitor numbers increasing by 20.7% compared to 2023. This surge can be attributed to enhanced air connectivity between major Indian cities and Turkish destinations, growing popularity among Indian wedding planners and MICE organisers, and the introduction of specialised Turkish experiences catering to Indian preferences. Strategic marketing initiatives in the Indian market have also played a crucial role in positioning Türkiye as a preferred destination for Indian travellers. While Russia, Germany, and the United Kingdom remained Türkiye’s top three source markets, other emerging markets demonstrated notable growth alongside India. The USA saw an 8.1% rise in visitors, while China recorded a substantial 65.1% growth. This diversification of source markets underscores Türkiye’s growing appeal to global travelers and its success in attracting visitors from various regions. Beyond traditional leisure tourism, Türkiye has seen substantial growth in …

With the extension of visa exemptions, easy access, direct connectivity and diverse offerings, including gastronomy, culture, heritage, shopping and nightlife — Malaysia presents an unrivalled combination of attributes making it an attractive destination for India’s MICE segment. In a focused endeavor to inspire its top corporates, Thomas Cook (India) partnered with Tourism Malaysia to host a high-impact MICE event in Mumbai. The engagement witnessed strong participation of over 30 CXOs and senior executives from leading multinational corporations and Indian corporate houses across sectors that included BFSI, pharma, electronics, trade etc. along with representatives from Tourism Malaysia and Thomas Cook. These attendees were carefully handpicked by Thomas Cook to attend the exclusive, high-impact event Inaugurated by Mr. Datuk Manoharan Periasamy, Director General of Tourism Malaysia, the event highlighted Malaysia’s unwavering commitment to expanding its MICE offerings and enhancing its accessibility for Indian corporates. Organized in coordination with Nuwal Fadhillah Ku Azmi (Director International Promotion, Asia & Africa), Azura Zainol Abidin (President, Malaysia Sports Tourism), Noriah Jaafar (Director, Tourism Malaysia Mumbai) and T.Ediwanto T.Eddie (Dy Director of Tourism Malaysia), the unique format of the event allowed for a productive blend of business and networking, packed with insightful presentations, engaging discussions and invaluable one-on-one sessions that allowed participants to explore Malaysia’s vast MICE offerings in depth. The intent was not only to showcase Malaysia opportunity but also to inspire significant MICE groups for 2025-26.

The Airbus A321XLR has proven a popular choice with airlines says Gavin Eccles, Managing Partner, GE Consulting & Advisory. “It can fly up to 10 hours, similar to an A330, the difference being we can fly with such distances with 160 people rather than 360 people. This means that tourist boards can start fishing in markets that they have not been to before because the traditional widebody was either too big for most airports or had too many seats that would mean less yield for the airline, resulting in a reluctance to serve certain destinations. But that will now soon change,” he says.