Category Archives: NTO (National Tourist Offices)

Alex Ellis, British High Commissioner to India, has said that the United Kingdom is on track to get back to processing Indian visa applications within its standard 15-day period. He also mentioned that they dealt with a great surge in demand for student visas, which is 89 per cent up on last year.

Tourism Australia has created a live-action short film with CGI animated characters. The short film, G’day, is part of a new global tourism campaign inviting international travellers to Come and Say G’day, and plan and book an Australian adventure of their own. Directed by acclaimed Australian director, Michael Gracey (The Greatest Showman) and produced by FINCH, G’day the short film shows the unlikely adventure of a plush souvenir kangaroo named Ruby, voiced by beloved Australian actor Rose Byrne, and a toy unicorn, Louie, voiced by actor Will Arnett. The short film follows Ruby and Louie as they ‘break out’ of a gift shop on the Great Barrier Reef and take an incredible adventure around Australia, visiting iconic sites including Sydney Harbour, Melbourne’s laneways, and stunning natural landscapes like Uluṟu and Nitmiluk Gorge. Along the way, they explore the magnitude of travel experiences Australia has to offer, connect with Australia’s Indigenous cultures, and learn why every great adventure starts with the unmistakably Aussie greeting, “G’day!”. Tourism Australia Managing Director, Phillipa Harrison, said “Come and Say G’day is unashamedly and unmistakably Australian. After a challenging time around the world, our uplifting and joyful campaign will stand out in what is a highly competitive international tourism market.” The multichannel campaign includes new broadcast advertisements (in 60, 30 and 15 second versions), print and high impact Out of Home (OOH) advertising placements, as well as social, digital, and content marketing initiatives. The campaign activity will be further amplified by partnership activity with airlines, State Tourism Organisations, and key distribution partners including Thomas Cook, SOTC, PickYourTrail, Kesari Tours amongst others. Australia’s Indigenous cultures and peoples are at the heart of the story in G’day, and …

Pre-pandemic, New Zealand welcomed 67,000 Indian visitors. What is remarkable about this, says Gregg Wafelbakker, GM, Asia, Tourism New Zealand, is that number had doubled in five years. “This translates to almost a 15% compounding annual growth rate. As we look forward, obviously we start from a low base. We have a target audience in India. We look at an audience of those who have New Zealand as their top five preference country and there’s 12.3 million of those. And we know that 12.3 million of 1.4 billion people may not seem a lot but certainly for us that is our audience. And 64% of that audience has New Zealand as the number one preferred destination for a visit,” he says.

Switzerland is a popular travel destination and offers numerous activities and experiences to visitors throughout the year. Through this webinar, we will showcase the unique offerings of some of our popular products: BLS Interlaken, Aletsch Arena, Matterhorn Gotthard Bahn, Swissminiatur and FoxTown. Attend all webinars for a chance to win a trip to Switzerland. For more information, write to jaspreet.kaur@ddppl.com or 9650196532.

DCT Abu Dhabi will be conducting #InAbuDhabi webinar today at 3pm for the travel trade. Participants would learn about upcoming events, experiences, attractions, hotels, among other offerings. Register with jaspreet.kaur@ddppl.com or call +91 9650196532.

With New Zealand borders reopened since August, Tourism New Zealand extends an invitation to curious travellers to visit and quench their curious minds. Its new global campaign titled ‘If You Seek’ is a call to visitors who wish to seek more through extraordinary travel experiences. The campaign is set to launch in India through key trade partners like Thomas Cook, MakeMyTrip and Kulin Kumar Holidays. Its objective is to convert pent-up demand for New Zealand through these partnerships to boost recovery.

The Penang Convention & Exhibition Bureau (PCEB) has embarked on a preliminary promotional trip to India with the aim to reconnect and revive the tourism and business events industry in Penang and India through press conferences and networking night.  The trip is essential for demonstrating the market readiness in India. Some of the Indian local airlines have expressed interest in expanding into Penang after attending PCEB’s annual roadshow last year. Following the interest, the PCEB team together with YB Yeoh Soon Hin, the State Executive Councillor for Tourism & Creative Economy had a meeting with a few airlines to discuss direct flights opportunities to Penang from key cities in India. It is essential to maintain marketing momentum in order to keep airlines enthusiastic about the Penang-India link. “The efforts to ensure tourism is sustainable was taken well into consideration by incorporating the idea of Responsible Tourism into the travel and tourism sector post pandemic. Penang is the first state in Malaysia to launch a well-designed SOS safety APP, making Penang once again the trendsetter in Malaysia’s tourism environment. With your support, we can restore travellers’ confidence to visit Penang and ensure that it remains a top destination for people from all over the world,” said Yeoh Soon Hin, the State Executive Councillor for Tourism & Creative Economy “PCEB’s dedication has not wavered, and our team is dedicated to fostering mutually beneficial relationships and working closely with the Indian community. The establishment of a direct flight between India and Penang is one of the primary topics of conversation at the moment. We are already in discussion with airlines both in India and in Malaysia about the possibility of establishing additional direct flight …

Discover all that this Peninsular Gulf country has to offer during the exclusive webinar titled ‘Curated in Qatar’ on Wednesday, Sept 28 at 3pm IST. For more information, please write to Jaspreet.kaur@ddppl.com or +91-9650196532.

Deepening engagement with key stakeholders in Chennai, South African Tourism visited the city recently. In 2021, Chennai was the third largest Indian feeder market to South Africa with 7.5% Indian arrivals from the city. The city is also projected to be South African Tourism’s highest growth market by 2025, with 30% CAGR. Neliswa Nkani, Hub Head – Middle East, India & SE Asia, South African Tourism, said, “Being one of our top 3 source markets from India and the highest projected growth market, we see immense potential in the city.”  

Discover all that this Peninsular Gulf country has to offer during the exclusive webinar titled ‘Curated in Qatar’ on Wednesday, Sept 28 at 3pm IST. For more information, please write to Jaspreet.kaur@ddppl.com or +91-9650196532.