Category Archives: NTO (National Tourist Offices)

The Department of Tourism (DOT), Republic of Philippines, reported double-digit growth on Indian tourist arrivals to the country during the first half of this year (Jan-June). India is among the top eleven source markets to the archipelago country. Tourism Secretary Bernadette Romulo–Puyat owes the continued upsurge to the sustained support from industry stakeholders, government, host communities, investors and foreign travel trade counterparts.

Indian tourist arrivals in The Netherlands registers a growth of 15% in the first half of 2019. The number of Indians travelling to The Netherlands from January-June was 1,00,000 as compared to 85,000 during the same period last year. The total number of Indian arrivals last year to The Netherlands was 1,75,000. The growth from India has been significant in The Netherlands, especially in May and June, this year- 23,000.

Leveraging on the increase in visits from India, VisitBritain has recently launched a new B2B platform called Tourism Exchange Great Britain (TXGB). Sharing this is Tricia Warwick, APMEA Director, VisitBritain, who adds, “This new platform will help sell England’s tourism products and experiences to the travel trade in India. The platform enables distributors to connect with UK suppliers directly and promote the various products on offer. According to the International Passenger Survey results for Q1 2019, we have seen a 25 per cent increase in visits from India as compared to Q1 2018 with a 13 per cent increase in spends. Visitors from India have evolved from taking multi-country trips to mono-country ones and spend more time on local experiences.”

Having made huge inroads in the couple and honeymooner segments, Tourism Fiji has started tapping families and high value MICE travellers from India in a big way. Kathy Koyamaibole, Regional Manager Asia, Tourism Fiji, met with various key members of the travel trade. She said that Tourism Fiji is now also tapping new traveller groups such as families and high-value MICE travellers. “Our key target audience from India have been honeymooners and couples and we continue to see major growth in these segments. However, we are now looking at actively promoting Fiji to families and high-end consumers groups. We have also seen interest from the MICE segment for hosting conferences in Fiji, which is a good lead for us to foray into the high-value MICE segment from India. Tourism Fiji has invested additional resources in the market to promote MICE and early this year we hosted our premier MICE Agents Famil, inviting eight top MICE agents for it,” Koyamaibole added. Speaking about some of the activities the tourism board is doing, she added, “This year too we shall have a host of activities to educate and keep the travel trade abreast on the latest happenings in Fiji. We just concluded our Fijian Tourism Expo 2019 in May, where we hosted six Indian agents to experience the destination and meet some of the Fiji stakeholders. We will also conduct trainings for the trade in tier-2 and tier-3 cities. As an extension to an already impressive reception in 2018, this year too we would also be conducting a three-series webinar starting October.” The tourism board will also host key travel agents from pan India on familiarisation trips this year.

At an appreciation dinner organised in New Delhi, the Singapore Tourism Board thanked cruise lines and cruise travel intermediaries for promoting cruising from Singapore. GB Srithar, Regional Director – India, Middle East & South Asia (IMESA), Singapore Tourism Board, presented ‘Valued Tourism Partner’ awards to representatives from key cruise lines operating out of Singapore and travel trade partners selling cruise holidays. Representatives of cruise lines were, Nalini Gupta, Managing Director, Lotus Aero Enterprises (Costa Cruise India); Nishith Saxena, Founder & Director, Cruise Professionals Ltd. (Princess Cruises), Naresh Rawal, Vice President, Sales & Marketing, Genting Cruise Lines and Ratna Chadda, CEO, Tirun Travel Marketing (Royal Caribbean International). Four travel agents nominated by Costa Cruises, Genting Cruises and RCI were also felicitated at the ceremony.

Welcoming 106,200 Indian visitors between January- July 2019, Japan has registered a 14.3 per cent year-on-year growth in terms of arrivals from India. The East Asian country also witnessed a 6.2 per cent month-on-month growth in 2019 when it witnessed 13,200 Indian tourist arrival in July. The Japan National Tourism Organization (JNTO) is eyeing to receive 2 lakh visitors from India in 2019. Yusuke Yamamoto, Executive Director for India, JNTO said, “I am hopeful for reaching the 2-lakh-visitor-arrival-mark from India this year. As of July 2019, we have already seen 106,200 Indian visitors to Japan since January in comparison to 92,937 during the same period in 2018. India is a huge market and therefore we are focusing on Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai, Bengaluru and Ahmedabad,” JNTO conducted its annual ‘Visit Japan Roadshow 2019’ in Mumbai and Ahmedabad last month.

Travel Nevada will host a webinar for travel agents on September 10. The event will be limited to 250 agents from across India who will learn about the key highlights of the destination and will be educated on what makes Nevada an ideal destination for Indian tourists. The event will also include an exclusive speech by SanJeet, India Representative, Travel Nevada. For registration, contact, Arjun Chadha at arjun.chadha@buzzindia.in.

Los Angeles Tourism & Convention Board (Los Angeles Tourism) is deepening its foothold in the India market with the appointment of it’s first-ever Regional Director dedicated to India. It has appointed Seema Kadam for this role who will develop and support air service for Los Angeles International Airport (LAX), spearhead strategic travel trade engagement including the implementation of a training program using the L.A. Insider Program, and attend key industry trade shows in the region.  In 2018, Los Angeles welcomed 130,000 visitors from India, an increase of 5.1 per cent year-over-year making India the third-highest year-over-year international growth market for Los Angeles. Kathryn Smits, Vice President, Tourism for Los Angeles Tourism, says, “We established a travel trade presence in India several years ago through representation, who introduced Los Angeles to the industry.  The time is now right to deepen our engagement. India holds such vast potential for Los Angeles and appointing a full-time, regional director to oversee all of our tourism activity is a natural evolution of our commitment to the market.” Kadam was earlier with Switzerland Tourism and Tourism Fiji.

The Singapore Tourism Board (STB) and partners welcomed passengers on board Vistara’s inaugural international flights from Delhi and Mumbai with a taste of Singaporean hospitality. The STB, together with tourism partners like Gardens by the Bay, Resorts World Sentosa, Sentosa Development Corporation, Trick Eye Museum Singapore and Wildlife Reserves Singapore (comprising the Singapore Zoo, Night Safari, River Safari and Jurong Bird Park) have put together value deals and discounts to popular attractions and experiences in Singapore. The discount vouchers are part of the welcome kits for Vistara’s passengers upon arrival in Singapore for the inaugural flights; and will continue to be distributed to passengers until 14 August 2019. Details of the discounts being offered can be found in the appended Fact Sheet.   Singapore received 1.44 million visitors from India in 2018, crossing the one million visitor mark for the fourth time in a row. India is also the third largest visitor source market for Singapore and has been able to retain its position as the top source market for cruise travel. The introduction of new flights from India will help more Indian travelers experience leisure, business and cruise travel to Singapore.   

After accounting a substantial rise in tourist arrivals from metro cities in India, the Tourism Authority of Thailand, Mumbai recently conducted its annual ‘Amazing Thailand’ roadshow in two cities in India – Ahmedabad and Pune – that are emerging markets for Thailand. Last year, they had chosen Indore and Chennai for the annual event. The objective of the roadshow was to introduce the agents to the emerging destinations and experiences that Thailand has to offer.   India currently holds the sixth position in the ranking of primary source markets for Thailand. Arrivals from India soared by 14 per cent to 1.46 million and the tourism board recorded a notable increase in visitors from Maharashtra (51%) and Gujarat (14%) during 2017. To further enhance the favorable developments, the road show witnessed the presence of 34 sellers, four delegates and also the Deputy Governor for Planning from Thailand along with airline and hospitality partners. An intense B2B session followed by a destination presentation on new routes, emerging locations and experiential activities was arranged to educate the travel agents on different shades of Thailand.   Kulpramote Wannalert, Director of ASEAN, South Asia and South Pacific Division, quoted “The travel and tourism sector in India is growing at an exponential pace and outbound travel is definitely on the rise. The factors affecting the growth are easy connectivity, affordable airfare and increase in disposable income and flexible visa policies of several South East Asian countries. Making the most of the scenario, we are organizing roadshows in Ahmadabad and Pune to strengthen reach and ensure the continuous increase in arrivals”   Cholada Siddhivarn, Director, Tourism Authority of Thailand, Mumbai, said “India is one of our key …