Category Archives: NTO (National Tourist Offices)

The International Visitor Survey results released by Tourism Research Australia for the year ended September 2017, indicate an 18 per cent rise in Indians travelling to South Australia in comparison to the year ended September 2016. This makes India the eighth largest source market for the state and the third highest in terms of growth in arrivals during the year. In addition to this, spend by Indians visiting South Australia registered a substantial increase amounting to AUD$37mn, a jump by 33 per cent compared to last year. Commenting on the results, Dana Urmonas, Regional Director (India & Southeast Asia), SATC said, “The double-digit growth in arrivals and spend over the last year indicate that South Australia is steadily becoming a favoured destination among Indian travellers. We are extremely pleased that our trade and consumer programmes are yielding positive results and we are confident we will see sustained growth over the next few years as well.” In 2018, the SATC will focus on attracting honeymooners, families and independent travellers, especially cricket lovers, between the age of 25-45 years in the primary markets of Mumbai, Delhi, Bangalore and Chennai.

Parineeti Chopra, Bollywood actress and ‘Friend of Australia’, released a series of videos that encapsulate her recent holiday experiences in the Australian states of Queensland and Northern Territory. As an advocacy campaign for Australian holidays, the videos will be promoted on media platforms to influence her followers and motivate potential travellers seeking an idyllic holiday destination. The actress has sung the background score with lyrics for the video showcasing Queensland. The videos feature a spectacular montage of iconic Aussie experiences. In the films, Parineeti can be seen cuddling a koala, learning to surf at the Gold Coast, getting a taste of Australia’s freshest produce, enjoying a bird’s eye view of Surfers Paradise on the Skypoint climb, spotting whales, watching the sunset over the Red Centre in Uluru and standing amidst Brunce Munro’s s beautiful art installation. Commenting on the videos, Chopra said, “I thoroughly enjoyed my time in Australia and the videos reflect every bit of fun I had there. From immersing in the aboriginal culture at Uluru to the fun and frolic in Queensland, I was fortunate to have an enriching experience of two completely different sides of the country.”

India ranks in top five list of highest number of visitors to Thailand after China, Malaysia, Korea and Laos. In 2017, over 1.4 million Indians travelled to Thailand which is over 18 per cent increase as compared to last year. Thailand welcomed over 35.3 million international visitors in 2017 and earned 1.82 trillion baht in tourism revenue. The precise number of overseas tourists visiting Thailand in 2017 was 35,381,210; showing an increase of 8.77 per cent over 2016. Soraya Homchuen, Director, Tourism Authority of Thailand, Mumbai said, “TAT is initiating many unique activities and projects this year with a focus on promoting women, family and first-time traveller segments for the Indian market.” Santi Chudintra, Deputy Governor for International Marketing (Asia and the South Pacific) said, “Our new campaign ‘Open to the New Shades of Thailand’ aims to give more attention to unique local experiences and inclusive tourism, reflecting Thainess and Thai people’s warmth in welcoming visitors. The new campaign ‘Amazing Thailand Tourism Year 2018’ has been launched to support the government’s national tourism development plan, ensuring that Thailand remains a preferred destination.”  

The UK has launched their annual ‘Beat the Peak’ campaign to encourage Indian visitors to make the most of UKVI’s post-dated visa offer, which allows travellers to apply three months in advance and date their visa for when they travel. Visa applicants can benefit from quieter Visa Application Centres and more available appointment slots outside of the peak period. The post-dated service allows Indian visitors to the UK to start their visa on their intended travel date. For example, those planning to travel in April can apply for their visas in January, whilst keeping the full six month validity for when they intend to travel. Launched by Dominic Asquith KCMG, British High Commissioner to India, the 2018 ‘Beat the Peak’ campaign will include a range of activities led by the UK High Commission that aim to engage with the Indian tourist market and encourage them to visit Britain and apply early for their visa to do so. Asquith KCMG, said, “In the year ending September 2017, over half a million visas were issued to Indian nationals and visit visas alone were up by 11 per cent year-on-year. Indians can now expect a quicker visa process if they apply up to three months early and beat the summer peak in April and May.”  

The Penang Convention & Exhibition Bureau (PCEB) started its Penang Sales Mission to India with an objective to promote Penang as the preferred destination for corporate and association meetings, incentives and leisure travel. Led by Ashwin Gunasekeran, Chief Executive Officer, PCEB, the mission is supported by a Penang delegation of 17 partners, including the state bureau for leisure travel – Penang Global Tourism, hotels, destination management companies, event experts and PCEB’s official airline partner, Malaysia Airlines. “India is one of the top five markets for business events in Penang, and over the past year, we have received encouraging interest from event planners and conference organisers. India is the sixth highest generator of tourists to Malaysia. This mission is joined by some of Penang’s finest offerings in the hospitality, travel and events sectors, and will showcase the best of what Penang can offer to the Indian market.”  said Ashwin Gunasekeran, CEO, PCEB. The mission kicked off in Kolkata on January 17, 2018, moving on to New Delhi on January 19, Mumbai on January 22 and Bengaluru on January 24.

Having received as many as 459,000 Indian visitors during January-October in 2017, Malaysia tourism board is targeting to receive 800,000 Indian visitors by the end of 2018, informs Mohamad Taib Ibrahim, Senior Deputy Director, Malaysia Tourism Promotion Board. “Indian families and the leisure segment of travel showed the highest growth in Malaysia. Since last year, we have restructured our marketing approach by way of partnerships with big players in the Indian market for joint promotion of Malaysia. Partnering with Akquasun Group for their roadshows is the first promotional activity for the trade in 2018; we will continue these efforts with other key players as well,” said Ibrahim. While the Genting Island is scheduled to open for Indian visitors sometime this year, the tourism board has introduced two new products—Desaru Coast and Forest City while aggressively promoting Legoland.

SLW, a golf management company, in association with Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT) has launched Thai Golf Pass, a reward and loyalty programme to offer Indian golfers a seamless golf experience in Thailand. Every Indian golfer who plays golf in Thailand will receive points depending on the services used from the service providers. Anil Dev, Managing Director, SLW, stated, “Indian golfers can be a part of this amazing rewards programme whenever they tee off in amazing Thailand. A number of quality service providers like Thai Airways, Cox & Kings, Callaway and a number of golf courses, resorts and hotels have come together to partner this initiative.” “As India is a leading market for Thailand, we have launched Thai Golf Passport to ensure value added services. This will help golfers to enjoy the game in their favourite destination and help us in connecting with the golfing fraternity in India,” said Isra  Stapanaseth, Director, Tourism Authority of Thailand. The Thai Golf Passport was launched in New Delhi by Stapanaseth along with Vani Kapoor, leading Indian golfer; Gajendra Panwar, Vice President, Cox & Kings and Prashant Singh, General Manager, Callaway Golf India.

The Philippines recorded a growth of 19 per cent in visitor arrivals from India between January to November 2017, a remarkable surge over the previous year. The Department of Tourism (DOT), Philippines, has confirmed recording of 99,088 visitors from India until November 2017. India has jumped up to the 12th position for tourist arrivals in the Philippines and is consistently maintaining the position. SanJeet, Tourism Attaché, Philippines Tourism Marketing Office India, stated that with this growth rate, the DOT’s plan of achieving 100,000 Indian tourist arrivals by the end of 2017 will be easily achieved. He said that the double-digit growth in arrivals can also be attributed to major metros as well as feeder markets. “Disposable income for leisure and travel-related pursuits amongst middle and affluent class travellers are the major reasons behind this remarkable growth. There has also been a steady increase in MICE movement as well as FITs and small groups travelling from India,’’ he added. Over the last couple of years, DOT Philippines has been actively promoting the archipelago not only as a holiday destination but also for luxury, MICE, weddings and small group travel. Destinations such as Manila, Boracay, Cebu, Bohol, Palawan and Davao have been aggressively promoted in recent years.

The Ministry of Tourism, Oman has launched a new promotional website ‘www.experienceoman.om’ that will serve as a one-stop-shop for all Oman Tourism related information. The website was launched under the patronage of His Highness Sayyid Haitham bin Tariq Al Said, Minister of Heritage and Culture during a gala dinner recently hosted in Muscat on the sidelines of the 2nd UNWTO/UNESCO World Conference on Tourism and Culture. Lubaina Sheerazi, India Representative, Ministry of Tourism, Oman said, “The launch of the website comes as a part of the Ministry’s initiatives to support the development of the tourism sector in all areas, especially in the use of electronic platforms and digital marketing. Providing insights into suggested travel itineraries; list of tour operators, hotels, and services; MICE opportunities; the website also orients tourists with the latest events in Oman and can be viewed in six languages.” The Ministry aims to enhance the Sultanate’s presence in the digital world by shedding light on the most popular landmarks, creating a platform to interact with visitors and responding to their enquiries through the website. The ‘www.experienceoman.om’ will complement the existing Oman Tourism website to provide diverse information about the latter.

Arrivals from India to Australia grew by 15 per cent for the year ended October 2017, with an influx of 294,000 visitors, compared to the same period last year. This makes India the 9th largest inbound market for Australia, and inches it closer towards achieving its Tourism 2020 goal of 300,000 visitors annually, three years ahead of target. Indian visitor spend in Australia for the year ended September 2017 reached AUD 1.45 billion (approx. Rs. 7,200 crore), an increase of 26 per cent over the previous year, making India the 8th largest market in terms of spend by tourists. With an impressive double-digit growth in arrivals and spend for the fourth consecutive year, India has emerged as Australia’s fastest growing inbound market. Tania Gerlach, Chief Migration Officer, Department of Immigration and Border Protection (DIBP) commented, “We are extremely pleased with the success of the e-lodgment process, with over 60 per cent of the total tourist visa applications now received online. The month of November 2017 has witnessed the highest-ever tourist visa lodgments. Online lodgment offers benefits such as 24/7 accessibility, electronic payment of the visa application charge and the ability to check the status of applications lodged online. Processing times for these visas will now be faster, as both applications and supporting documentation are immediately available to the processing office. This is good news for every Indian visitor planning to visit Australia, whether they are travelling for business or pleasure”. Commenting on the success, Nishant Kashikar, Country Manager, India and Gulf, Tourism Australia, said, “It is an extremely proud moment for us to achieve the fastest growing market status in our 50th anniversary year of marketing Australia to the world …