Category Archives: NTO (National Tourist Offices)

Alphons Kannanthanam, Minister of State (I/C) for Tourism has said that India’s Tourism sector is fast growing and has got an emerging market for outbound travel and a tremendous potential for tourism co-operation with the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) region. He was speaking while attending the SCO Tourism Ministers’ conference in Wuhan in China. At the sidelines of the event on May 9, the minister also met Chinese Tourism and Culture Vice Minister Li Jinzao. The visit of the team headed by Kannanthanam was in continuation of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s  recent visit to China wherein it was agreed to increase the co-operation between India and China in Defence, External Affairs and Tourism.  

India and Cambodia has agreed to  strengthen tourism cooperation, particularly with regards to start a direct air link between Phnom Penh and New Delhi. This decison was taken after a joint committee meeting between officials from Cambodia and India in Siem Reap, to discuss cooperation in the tourism industry as part of a high-level dialogue mechanism. Earlier this week, Phnom Penh hosted the ‘Incredible India Road Show’, which aimed to promote India as a destination for Cambodian tourists, as well as to create new partnerships between Indian and local companies in the tourism industry. Rashmi Verma, Secretary-Tourism, Government of India, said the committee is now working on a strategy to further collaboration between the countries in tourism. “Stronger cooperation in tourism will be beneficial for both countries in terms of economic growth and job creation,” she said. The flow of tourists between Cambodian and India has increased remarkably in the last few years, said Thong Khon,  Cambodian Minister of Tourism. He said many Cambodians travel to India to visit religious landmarks, while Indians like to visit the Kingdom to experience local weddings or as part of pilgrimages. “In many ways, both countries have a similar appeal for tourists, and both have huge potential for tourism. This is why we need to boost cooperation with India in the sector,” Khon said. Khon and Ms Tashmi said they are now conducting talks with civil aviation bodies to expedite the creation of a direct air link.

Tapping on the success story of great advancements achieved by Israel in the agricultural sector over the years, Israel Ministry of Tourism is now bullish on the growth of Agritourism in the country. Israel is hosting the 20th edition of Agritech Israel 2018, one of the world’s most important exhibitions in the field of agricultural technologies, innovations and food processing.  From May 8 to 10, the exposition is held at the Israel Trade Fairs and Convention Centre in Tel Aviv and is attended by the Minister of State for Agriculture from the Government of India. Government officials, including representatives from the states of Maharashtra, Punjab, Haryana and Gujarat are also present at Agritech Israel 2018.  Moreover, around 3000 travellers belonging to industries like Dairy, Irrigation, Organic Farming, Natural Fertilizers/ Pesticides and Water Harvesting are in attendance from India. Talking about the growing Agritourism from India, Hassan Madah, Director, Israel Ministry of Tourism – India & Philippines said, “Israel has had breakthrough achievements in the field of agriculture and is poised to play a major role in supplying the world with cutting-edge agricultural solutions. By developing world’s best irrigation methods for ecological farming, Israel has much to offer the world in farming know-how. Agritourism is an effective way to tap into that know-how. Through Agritech, 2018 and other such initiatives, we are witnessing a tourism boom in the agriculture sector of Israel from India. Many professionals are opting for an average of 5 nights 6 days Israel agri-tours and we are positive that Agritourism will successfully contribute to the Indian tourist arrivals to Israel in 2018.”  

The Institute of Tourism of Spain has launched ‘Spain in 10 seconds’, a new tourism promotion campaign which is based on personal recommendations and motivations to visit Spain expressed by a dozen of Spanish personalities related with culture, cinema, fashion, sports and gastronomy. Each one from his/her personal approach shows his/her favorite experiences and destinations of the Spanish geography through short videos in selfie format. The first of the ambassadors who are part of the campaign is the psychiatrist Luis Rojas Marcos. Designer Agatha Ruiz de la Prada and the badminton player Carolina Marin will also participate. The rest will be unveiled bit by bit over the coming months. This new campaign which is being carried out on social networks and digital media has a budget of two million Euros and the target audience is the tourist segment characterized by its high propensity to spend on the destination to which it travels and with a high index of affinity for more experiential activities. It also serves as a great catalyst to seasonally adjust the tourist demand. This campaign will be broadcasted in 15 countries and is based on a strategy of segmentation by profiles of interest that can reach tourists based on their place of origin, their motivations when travelling and their affinity with each of the celebrities.

In 2017, 4,85,314 Indian tourists visited Indonesia. The numbers saw a 30 per cent increase from the previous year in 2016, when 376,802 tourists visited Indonesia, said Arief Yahya, Indonesia’s Tourism Minister. He is visiting India from May 6- 9,  2018 along with a delegation from Jakarta. Upon arrival in Delhi the Minister met with top tourism operators and members of the media. In honour of Yahya’s visit, HE Sidharto Suryodipuro, Indonesia Ambassador organised a cocktail reception at the Indonesia embassy. The event was well attended by travel agents, tour operators, wedding planners and media persons. While addressing the guests,  Yahya commended the Indian tourists. He also said, the Indian market has the potential for still more significant growth.    

TAT’s Mumbai and New Delhi offices, recently organised the sixth edition of the Indian Wedding Symposium and B2B session 2018 exclusively for the Indian market. Top eight wedding planners from South and West of India and 10 wedding planners from North and East of India were hosted in Thailand from April 23-27, 2018. The itinerary included the scenic route of Phuket-Khao Lak-Krabi-Bangkok. During the trip, the group visited numerous beautiful hotels in these destinations to evaluate their potential as ideal venues for grand Indian weddings. The trip concluded in Bangkok with a Wedding Planners’ Symposium and B2B session at Centara Grand AT Central World, which included a panel discussion between representatives of the planners, hotels, and Tourism Authority of Thailand to strengthen the existing relationship and to attract more and more Indian weddings in Thailand. The discussion was followed by a B2B session in which the planners and various suppliers met and discussed future business prospects. Santi Chudintra, Deputy Governor, Asia Market extended his warm welcome to the Indian wedding planners and the 26 Thai private sectors. “The Indian wedding planners are the most important influencers to help promote Thailand as the most preferred wedding destination after they have first-handed experience and learned what Thailand has to offer from this familiarization trip. India is one of the key markets for us, last year we witnessed more than  300 Indian weddings in Thailand and we aim at doubling the number by the end of 2018″.

Mohamed Maliki,  Ambassador of the Kingdom of Morocco has said that Morocco will soon be opening a tourism office in New Delhi. “The new office was supposed to open in January this year but due to some technical hurdles, it had to be delayed. We will announce the office and the CEO who will head it soon,” he said. He also revealed that the two countries had recently signed a bilateral agreement for aviation. “We are in talks with some Indian airlines for better connections between India and Morocco and may even look at a direct connectivity if it makes sense to the airline. We are currently connected to India through a few Middle Eastern and European airlines,” Maliki added. He was in Mumbai to inaugurate the ninth visa application centre which is in Mumbai. All its visa services are contracted to Cox & Kings Global Services. These developments indicate a growing number of Indian tourists to Morocco. In 2017, the North African country welcomed about 21,850 Indian visitors. “We hope to double this by 2019. We will plan a strategy for the India market once we open our Moroccan National Tourist Office in Delhi,” Maliki added.

Switzerland Tourism and the Swiss Travel System have together launched a special ‘Ranveer on Tour’ train dedicated to Ranveer Singh to honour the actor’s contribution towards the increasing popularity of the country as the preferred destination of Indian tourists. The train’s maiden journey was inaugurated by the official brand ambassador of Switzerland Tourism. Also present at the inauguration were Martin Nydegger, CEO Switzerland Tourism and Maurus Lauber CEO Swiss Travel System. Post the inauguration, Singh took a commemorative ride on the train while interacting with the passengers and signed a few postcards. Nydegger said at the inauguration, “The Indian market is fundamentally important for Switzerland Tourism. In 2017, activities to promote Switzerland in India have resulted in a strong increase of 23.4 per cent in overnights. Our campaign with Ranveer Singh as our Brand Ambassador has powerfully contributed to this recent success: Switzerland has become increasingly famous as an adventurous and fun destination for younger Indian visitors.” Lauber added, “ Indians are extremely important for the Swiss Travel system and the number of Indian travellers using the Swiss Travel Pass has doubled since 2013. We are very proud that the Golden Pass Panoramic train is named after Ranveer Singh and we hope this inspires more Indians to travel on this premium route on the Grand train tour of Switzerland.”

Tourism New Zealand and Immigration New Zealand have launched an extension of the Tourism Industry Partnership (TIP) Programme to facilitate faster processing of visitor visa applications for Indian leisure travellers. Riding on the success of the previous partnership between Immigration New Zealand (INZ), Tourism New Zealand (TNZ) and key travel agents, the Tourism Industry Partnership (TIP) Programme has now been extended to leisure agents. The previous programme was launched in November 2014 and focussed on the business and incentive travel sector. With this new arrangement, Indian leisure travellers will benefit from a more streamlined visa service, with a faster processing time of three days, compared to the previous online application processing time of 15 days. Steven Dixon, Regional Manager, South and South-East Asia, Tourism New Zealand said, “This new visa process will make it even easier for Indian travellers to experience New Zealand.  India is an important market for Tourism New Zealand and it is pleasing to see the increase in the number of Indians choosing New Zealand as their favoured destination. This agreement will ensure that New Zealand welcomes even more high calibre visitors.” Commenting on this, Marcelle Foley, Head, Operations Immigration New Zealand said, “We have enjoyed the opportunity to partner with Tourism New Zealand and key players in the Indian travel trade to make it even easier for Indian business event travellers to visit New Zealand. ”

Oman Tourism along with Cox & Kings hosted a networking evening in Delhi and Mumbai recently. Around 40-45 attendees representing the top management and decision makers of various corporate entities were present for this session to discuss Oman emerging as the next big hub for corporate events and MiCE groups. Lubaina Sheerazi, India Representative, Ministry of Tourism, Oman said, “Conducting networking session for corporate organisations gave us an opportunity to showcase to them various MiCE offerings. For this, we feel privileged to be associated with Cox & Kings who bring along their expertise. Being a short-haul destination from India, with excellent air connectivity from major Indian cities, world-class hotels and easy availability of Indian food, Oman makes an ideal MiCE destination.” Khalid Al Zadjali, Director, Oman Convention Bureau said, “With new international hotel chains that have recently opened in Oman and many more to launch soon, we are seeing a considerable increase in the number of rooms and venues in the country. The recent revision in visa regulations (granting of Visa on Arrival for non-sponsored tourist visa for certain categories), increasing number of flights from India to Oman, diversification of tourism products and the upcoming phase II of the Oman Convention and Exhibition Centre (OCEC) will bring momentum to MiCE tourism.”