Category Archives: NTO (National Tourist Offices)

Speaking on the sidelines of Tourism Australia’s 18th Australia Marketplace India (AMI) in Bengaluru, Nishant Kashikar, Country Manager – India & Gulf, Tourism Australia, said, “India has improved its ranks among Australia’s source markets, and reached a milestone of emerging as the first market to recover to pre-Covid levels, with several marketing, public relations, distribution, and partnership initiatives aimed at enhancing Australia’s attractiveness and consideration. Our Key Distribution Partners, Aussie Specialists and Business Event agents have been vital in inviting Indians to Australia. We seek to maintain our current trajectory and unlock India’s potential growth towards the next decade of travel.”

The 18th edition of Australia Marketplace India 2023 held in Bengaluru recently witnessed record participation from both Australian delegates as well as Indian buyers. It saw 86 Australian delegates meet with 94 buyers from 8 cities in India. India has been the fastest recovering market for Australia and ranks as the fourth inbound market in terms of visits, which is 375500 for year ending May 2023. The three-day event saw the highest attendance this year which reiterates the demand for Australia among the Indian travellers.

Ministry of Heritage and Tourism, Sultanate of Oman, is organising an exclusive webinar to help attendees learn more about the beautiful city of Salalah in Oman, today at 11:30 am. Register to get a chance to win a free trip to Oman. Contact jaspreet.kaur@ddppl.com, 9650196532.

The newly appointed Director of Tourism Malaysia, Noriah Jaafar, is gung-ho about the India market. Sharing numbers, she says, “Pre covid in 2019, we saw 735,309 tourist arrivals from India and currently from January to April 2023, we have welcomed 164,566 arrivals into Malaysia. Our target for this year is to reach 462,000 arrivals from India. As an international source market for Malaysia, India ranked number four in 2022! This makes India a very important market for us.”

Indian visitors travelling to Sultanate of Oman increased to a record 63,492 in April 2023, according to Oman Ministry of Heritage and Tourism. The Ministry said the Indian tourist flow to the Sultanate has been highest in the past 15 years. In January 2023, the Ministry stated, the Indian arrivals were 38,279 more than the pre-COVID figures of 29,094. By April 2023, the numbers had reached 63,492 – the highest it has seen in the last 15 years! “This stupendous growth in number of Indian travellers to Oman in April is a delight. Following the mammoth rise in Indian tourist flow in April this year against the same period last year, we are optimistic that Oman will become a preferred travel destination for Indian tourists,” said Arjun Chadha, Country Manager, Oman Tourism India office. Oman, renowned for its hospitality, breathtaking landscapes, and rich history, has unparalleled attractions, combined with the efforts of the Ministry and its partners, have culminated in the extraordinary influx of Indian tourists in April, he added. Apart from investments in marketing tourism, Oman Tourism has carried out activities such as organizing roadshows in five cities and a four-city sales mission in India to jointly advertise and promote travel through various media outlets. According to the Ministry’s statement, to enhance its presence in the Indian market, Oman Tourism will expand its promotional efforts through collaborative efforts, sales missions, FAM trips, and roadshows. Recently, Oman Tourism hosted a sales mission in cities such as Kochi, Hyderabad and Kolkata, which was also honored by the presence of the MHT Head office, Muscat. The ministry met more than 70 trade partners at the time, which received a positive response. The …

Neliswa Nkani, Hub Head – MEISEA, South African Tourism, is extremely optimistic about the India market. Post the pandemic, India has moved up two spots to become the sixth-largest inbound traveller market for South African Tourism. She says, “Led by our robust recovery efforts we witnessed over 200% surge in travellers from India in 2022, welcoming more than 50,000 Indian tourists.”

KTO will conduct a big roadshow in Delhi this August bringing in local agents and DMCs from Korea. Myongkil Yun, Director of KTO India office, says, “This year, South Korea is seeing a surge in visitors from India, and we are keen to further boost that with the launch of the K-incentive scheme. The Korea wave is very big in India today and we are ready to support travel agents who promote our destination.”

Speaking at the Thailand Travel Mart Plus, Chattan Kunjara Na Ayudhya Deputy Governor for Marketing Communications, TAT, said that India is now at number five in terms of international source market for Thailand with 583,319 arrivals from Jan to May 2023.

According to Schengen Visa Statistics 2022, Indian travellers have one of the highest rejection rates in the world when it comes to Schengen visa. It states that Indians filed over 6 lakh Schengen visa applications in 2022, which happens to be the third highest in the world, but also faced a steep rejection rate of 18 per cent.

Opened this week, TRENZ, the most significant international business-to-business travel trade event for New Zealand’s tourism sector welcomed a strong Indian delegate for the event.  Over three days of appointments, activities and networking functions, New Zealand tourism industry leaders and representatives gathered to showcase their products and services to high-quality international and New Zealand Buyers and influential international and New Zealand travel trade. More than 1500 international travel delegates and the country’s leading tourism operators will experience Ōtautahi during TRENZ, a trade event designed to build relationships, broker business opportunities and explore new tourism experiences from the country’s visitation sector. In 2019, prior to COVID, the tourism industry was valued at over $39 billion to the New Zealand economy, with $1 billion spent in the Christchurch economy while still in recovery post-earthquake.