Category Archives: NTO (National Tourist Offices)

VisitBritain recently hosted a networking dinner in Mumbai for select travel agents to promote the ICC Cricket World Cup 2019 which will be held in England and Wales. The actual trophy of the ICC Cricket world cup was also put on display for attendees at the event. Speaking at the event, Matt Hancock MP Secretary of State for digital, culture, media and sport said, “ We look forward for the competition next year in England. We want more Indians to come and watch the world cup in England and travel in England too. It is a great tourist opportunity and good reason to travel to England.” Tricia Warwick, Director-Asia Pacific, Middle East, Africa, Visit Britain commented, “We are excited to promote the cricket tournament to the India market and it is an unbeatable combination between England and India. We have had a good last year in India with 30 per cent growth with statistics till September 2017, while we await the final numbers. Our forecast for this year which we have been running from 1st of April is up by 20 per cent. Indians on average have been spending 24 nights in Britain.”

The Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT) announced that Thailand has been named as the host country for the 19th International Indian Film Academy Awards (IIFA Awards), which is scheduled to be held in Bangkok from 22-24 June, 2018. This makes the second time the Thai capital plays host to the biggest celebration of Indian cinema, having hosted the 9th IIFA Awards on 8 June, 2008. Yuthasak Supasorn, TAT Governor, said, “India is one of Thailand’s important sources of visitor markets. Being named as the host country for the glitzy and glamorous IIFA Awards for the second time reiterates Thailand’s positioning as the preferred destination among Indian travellers.” Wizcraft International, the producers and creators of the IIFA, made the official announcement at a press conference held in New Delhi on 17 May, 2018. Making the appearances to confirm Bangkok as the host city for this June’s star-studded weekend included Bollywood bigwigs Ranbir Kapoor, Karan Johar, Dia Mirza, Shahid Kapoor and Kartik Aaryan.

Korea Tourism Organization New Delhi Office has launched its India website www.visitkorea.in as part of its marketing plan for the year 2018. The website mainly caters to the travel industry and individuals seeking tourism related information specific to the Indian outbound travelling requirements. The website was launched to provide a quick access of everything an Indian traveller would like to see and do in South Korea. Regular updates on offers and announcements will keep the visitors apprised of what’s happening. The KTO India website features highlight the mandatory travel information for India market such as visa information, currently available South Korea packages, incentive programme details, Indian food available in South Korea, main destination and attractions for Indians to enjoy, etc. According to Jong Sool Kwon, Director, Korea Tourism Organization New Delhi, “The usual practice of prospective tourists and travel agents was to find a local travel agent partner, get information from brochures or wait for the tourism board to organise training sessions for updates about South Korea from Indian traveller’s perspective. This website will be a one-stop solution for both the trade partners and travellers to gather updated information. Although the global website was available for all to access information about South Korea, however, it has been so difficult for tourists to find India-centric information about the destination.”  

Switzerland Tourism has introduced its global e-learning programme created for travel agents to sell the destination in the India market. This was launched in January this year and its India-specific programme created especially for this market was discontinued. Speaking about the decision behind this development, Claudio Zemp, Director – India, Switzerland Tourism, says, “We are very proud to introduce our new e-learning programme – the Switzerland Travel Academy – in India. This is a global programme for travel agents all over the world and is now also available for the Indian agents. We observed that the demand and the requirements from the India market as well as the knowledge about the destination were fast evolving and for that reason we have now started using the same e-learning programme for India.” The NTO recently did a series of four webinars this year that got overwhelming response with about 600 people joining each webinar. The numbers are also good, as Zemp reveals. “We had an increase of 23.4 per cent in terms of tourists generated out of India in 2017 over the previous year. The first three months of 2018 saw an increase of 16.4 per cent over the previous year during the same period, which is traditionally not a busy season for us,” he says.  

The Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT) has launched a ‘Little Chiang Mai’ guidebook in English, bringing together the city’s independent bookshops, secret restaurants and museums, as well as the province’s bicycle and running routes in a set of five bona fide designer pocketbooks for readers to use or collect. TAT Governor, Yuthasak Supasorn said Little Chiang mai’s latest English edition, would be an unique guide for international travellers looking to discover Thailand’s ‘Rose of the North’ from a new perspective. The book set combines Chiang Mai’s culture, gastronomy and art in a way that brings the city to life in a new light, targeting young active travellers looking to discover its hidden gems along running or cycling routes. He noted that it is unique both in form and content and consists of five individual sections: ‘Ride’, ‘Run’, ‘Restaurants’, ‘Gallery Museum’ and ‘Bookshops’. The initial brief from TAT was to create a map of Chiang Mai’s bookshops, restaurants and museums that bring together the city’s local establishments with bicycle and running routes in Chiang Mai being added as a bonus. What differentiates Little Chiang mai from most guidebooks is each section has a character that is relatable to its content, which is divided into five individual pocketbooks distributed within the one package.

Tourism Fiji will have a refreshed Matai specialist programme with enhanced tools for agents with a more dynamic interface that will be launched soon. Revealing this is Seema Kadam, Country Manager – India, Tourism Fiji, who adds, “We are already in the process of doing a lot of trade and consumer engagement programmes via our key stakeholders, and through conducting  trade trainings and trade famils. We are also keen to work on B2C platforms like radio, television and host bloggers and travel journalists on a famil which will help spread awareness about Fiji’s offerings.” Fiji started the year with the announcement of its Brand Ambassador actor Ileana Dcruz and the appointment of Kadam as the Country Manager for India. “The focus for 2018 is both on driving awareness of the destination through the B2C medium as well as driving conversions with our trade partners. We have a comprehensive trade calendar planned to achieve this in 2018,” she adds.

The South Australian Tourism Commission (SATC) expects that the number of visitors from India will increase in anticipation of the upcoming cricket series set to be held between India and Australia in Adelaide in December this year. The Adelaide Oval will host the first Test Match, scheduled for December 6-10, 2018, which is expected to attract a large number of Indian visitors to Adelaide. In addition to focusing on attracting honeymooners, families and independent travellers between the age of 25-45 years in the primary markets of Mumbai, Delhi, Bengaluru and Chennai, SATC is also working to attract cricket lovers this year. This will be executed through SATC’s influencer, media, marketing and trade partnerships throughout 2018. Commenting on the announcement, Dana Urmonas, Regional Director (India & Southeast Asia), SATC said, “We look forward to hosting Indian cricket enthusiasts and travellers for the Test Match. Adelaide witnessed a surge in Indian tourist arrivals during the ICC India-Pakistan World Cup in 2015 and we’re confident this December will be no different. The match gives us a unique opportunity to showcase Adelaide and its surrounding regions to Indian travellers and cricket enthusiasts alike.” Speaking on Adelaide Oval hosting the game, Laura Robinson, Tourism Manager, Adelaide Oval said, “Adelaide Oval has hosted some historic games in the past and we believe that this time will be no different. India and Australia have shared excellent cricketing ties over the years.”

The number of foreign tourist arrivals to India during July 2017 amounted to 788,000, up from 734,000 during February the previous year. The largest number foreign tourist arrivals are usually seen in December and January during the winter season when temperatures are more bearable, according to a report by Ministry of Tourism. In 2016, December has been the peak month for FTAs in India, said the report titled “India Tourism Statistics 2017”. December was peak for countries like USA, UK, Bangladesh, Canada, Australia, Malaysia, Russia and Singapore. The peak season is followed by November, January, February and March, the report said. The shares of FTAs in February, March, July, September and December in 2016 has increased as compared to 2015. For China, Japan and Germany, November was the peak month, the report added.  

The number of Indian nationals’ departures from India during 2016 registered a growth of 7.3 per cent over 2015 as compared to 11.1 per cent growth in 2015, according to a report by Ministry of Tourism. In 2016, approximately 21.87 million Indian nationals departed on outbound travels, up from 20.38 million the previous year. During 2016, top three air ports for departures of Indian nationals’ from India were from Mumbai, Delhi and Cochin airport. These three airports accounted for 51.93 per cent of total departures in 2016, the report said. During 2015, Mumbai, Delhi and Cochin airport had a percentage share of 21.96 per cent, 20.08 and 9.62 per cent respectively, the report added. The Indian nationals’s departures rose with a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 10.17 per cent.

Visit Victoria has announced that India has now become its fourth largest inbound market with overnight visitor expenditure of $392 million and a growth of 22.3 per cent. During the end of December 2017, it recorded around 1,44,200 Indian visitors coming to Australia, a 22.6 per cent year on year increase. Speaking at the press conference Carmen Smith, Head of International Markets, Visit Victoria commented, “The Indian market has been very exciting for Visit Victoria just till December 2017 we had around 1, 44, 200 Indian tourist arrivals which is only till December while our year ends in June. Our target was to achieve 8 per cent growth from India while currently we are at a growth of over 22 percent so we have been very excited about the growth from India.” Indian visitors spent a total of 5.5m nights in Melbourne. Indian tourists have been visiting Victoria for various purposes including leisure holiday, business, visiting friends or relatives (VFR). 51 percent of the visitor expenditure from Indian visitors came from the education sector. The VFR segment recorded 72,000 Indian visitors travel  to Victoria. Melbourne is all set to host Indian in 2018 for the upcoming India-Australia Boxing Day cricket match 2018. It will also be hosting the ICC World T20 men’s and women’s final in 20020.