Category Archives: NTO (National Tourist Offices)

In line with the rapid growth in interest for Scotland among Indian travellers, the destination has recorded an average growth of 37 per cent over three years in trips taken by Indian travellers to Scotland, informed Kirsten Spence, Senior Market Manager—Emerging Markets, VisitScotland during the tourism board’s Delhi roadshow in partnership with Etihad Airways. In 2017 alone, the destination witnessed 8 per cent YOY growth with approximately over 40,000 Indian tourists. “These figures are conservative as they are calculated based on arrivals via airports and we know the actual number is much higher as the travellers also come to Scotland through rail or drive themselves,” says Spence. She adds that VisitScotland will conduct its B2B roadshow in Bengaluru on December 11 and in Mumbai on December 13 following the one in Delhi to meet the travel trade from these cities.

VisitBritain recently conducted an educational trip for 10 Indian travel agents in partnership with ACP Rail to promote the BritRail pass to travel around Britain by train. The trip was part of a B2B campaign which the national tourism organisation of Great Britain has launched with ACP Rail in India. Agents started their trip in Edinburgh, before travelling north for a two-day tour of the Scottish Highlands. They further headed across the border into Northern England, finishing their trip in the medieval town of York. Rail travel within UK is one of the most important part of the strategy to promote destinations beyond London amongst Indians. All hosted agents are considering sign-ups with ACP Rail and will soon begin installing their software to enable sale of UK rail passes along with sector tickets to promote rail itineraries and thus, give a fresh approach towards the UK holiday experience. With over 2,500 train stations in Britain, visitors have the chance to discover both cities and countryside throughout England, Scotland and Wales.

Atout France, France Tourism Development Agency, recently organised its first-ever offsite B2B showcase titled ‘Experience France’ in Goa from October 29 to November 2, 2017. This year, the agency also heralded another milestone – a decade of its independent office in India. The 2017 edition had a strong presence of 24 representatives of French entities buoyed to showcase the limitless possibilities that France has to offer. The delegation included key representatives of regional tourism boards, local tourist offices, hospitality partners, versatile attractions and DMCs from across France. The delegation also included eight representatives from the Auvergne Rhone Alpes region keenly positioning France as a winter destination. The workshop format consisted of pre-scheduled appointments over three days allowing for qualitative exchanges between French professionals and travel companies from key metro cities across India who were present for the event. The Consul General of France to Bombay, M Yves Perrin graced the 10-year celebration at the W Goa. Several networking soirees were organised to facilitate interaction and exchange between the suppliers and hosted buyers. Sheetal Munshaw, Director, Atout France in India, says, “In keeping with the market trends of France being a favoured destination with travel professionals pan India, we thought it opportune to create a common platform to facilitate synergies with travel agents from all over the country opening up and further expanding opportunities to promote France to a more versatile audience. Our delegation also comprised of an eclectic mix of tourism offerings from all over France enabling us to showcase France for all its diversity.”

Scandinavia expects to record over 15 per cent growth in Indian bednights in 2017 over 2016 with 350,000 Indian bednigts recorded year-to-date. This information was given by Mohit Batra, India Representative, Scandinavia Tourist Board, during the the Delhi leg of the three-city roadshow being conducted by the tourism board. The roadshow will head to Chennai on November 15, followed by Mumbai on November 16. “We have seen a tremendous growth in interest towards Scandinavia and some markets in the region may have witnessed an upward of 20 per cent growth too. All segments have shown growth, be it leisure, honeymooners or the incentive market from India. Our focus has been Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai and Bengaluru but we have also seen interest coming in from other cities as well.”

South African Tourism has appointed Hanneli Slabber as Regional General Manager Asia, Australasia and Middle East. She has held the reins at South African Tourism’s India office for the past seven years. Slabber hands over to Alpa Jani whom she has worked with for six years and who will function in the capacity of Acting Hub Head, MEISEA, South Africa Tourism. During her tenure at the India office, Slabber has grown to love and understand India. She has developed effective and long-lasting ties with media houses, travel trade, airlines and other authority figures in the travel industry. She has enabled, motivated and led the India office team as it has conquered the various taking the destination to the top of holiday-maker’s popularity charts: from establishing South Africa as a standalone destination, to building aspiration and universal appeal with celebrity, Bollywood and cricket personality associations and making classroom trainings identifiable and interesting. She has been instrumental in helping the South African travel industry understand India better, encouraging them constantly that it will be worth it to tailor not just for India but for the tastes and demands of people various regions/ states of India. Her experience in taking a destination from one-among-many to a must-see safari and adventure hotspot with multi-segment appeal is expected to help South Africa make waves in the Middle East and South East Asia, where South African Tourism has recently set the ball rolling on destination promotion. Prior to her posting in India, she served as Global Product Head for the tourism board, based in South Africa where she learned the intricacies of various markets planning hosted trips for media and travel agents from various source markets. …

The Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT) has launched its new campaign ‘Amazing Thailand Tourism Year 2018’. Speaking about this is Soraya Homchuen, Director, Tourism Authority of Thailand, Mumbai, who says, “For 2018, TAT has launched a new campaign ‘Amazing Thailand Tourism Year 2018’ to support the government’s national tourism development plan featuring an action-packed schedule of unique Thai local experiences and international events. In the coming year, the emphasis will be on inclusive tourism, that maintains a balance between the economy, environment and benefits for Thai society. This campaign will see the Thai travel and tourism industry move into a new era of development and further underscore its new status as a nationwide movement that yields significant benefits for national security, the economy, society, well-being and foreign relations. The campaign’s overarching objective is to ensure that Thailand remains a Preferred Destination and delivers a Quality Product, thus boosting the average length of stay, expenditure and repeat visit. In 2018, the marketing strategy will continue to position Thailand as a ‘Preferred Destination’.” Homchuen observed that Thailand is naturally blessed with a busy schedule of annual cultural events that appeal to both domestic and international audiences and said that they were delighted to see increasing number of tourist arriving in Thailand. The video campaign will highlight activities based on 13 core niche products that include sports, gastronomy, maritime tourism, wedding and honeymoon, medical and wellness, community-based tourism, leisure, green tourism, night tourism, MICE, trade fairs, B2B marketing activity and logistics. Some of the local Thai events that will take place in 2018 are Thailand Tourism Festival (January 2018); Thailand International Kite Festival/Thailand Marathon (Songkhla/Bangkok, February 2018); International Balloon Festival (Korat, May 2018); …

The Consulate General of the Republic of Indonesia, Mumbai successfully concluded its annual mission titled ‘Expo Indonesia 2017’ in Mumbai. The three-day exhibition is being organised with the aim to promote Indonesian trade, tourism and investment and promotes opportunities in Indonesian in these sectors. The event saw participation of 47 Indonesian companies who displayed a wide range of Indonesian products. The delegation also included Indonesian travel and tour operators as well as Indonesian airlines who met with the Indian trade to promote Indonesian tourism product. It was attended by Saut Siringoringo, Consul General of the Republic of Indonesia, Mumbai, Jaykumar Rawal, Hon’ble Minister for Tourism, Government of Maharashtra, Officials from the Embassy of the Republic of Indonesia, New Delhi, official from the Indonesian Investment Coordinating Board (BKPM), Indian Trade & Tourism associations, leading Indian business entrepreneurs, travel and tourism industry from India and Indonesian companies investing in India along with the exhibitors.    

Having already established itself firmly in the Indian market, the South African Tourism (SAT) has now further expanded its product offering to include newer regions that offer newer activities. This includes the Garden Route and the Eastern Cape which it started promoting during its Learn SA multi-city roadshow to the Indian travel trade. The new regions include the towns of Knysna, George, Oudtshoorn, Plettenberg Bay, Port Elizabeth and East London that are poised to become strong selling points on the new itineraries. To this end, SAT’s India office organised an educational tour to these new regions for a few travel agents from Mumbai, Delhi, Pune, Nagpur and Bengaluru in September. The 11-day itinerary saw them visit a range of tourist attractions and holiday experiences in the Garden Route towns of Knysna, George, Plettenberg Bay and Oudtshoorn, and in the nearby cities of Port Elizabeth and East London in the Eastern Cape. Hanneli Slabber, South African Tourism’s country manager for India, explained that the aim of the trip was to showcase South Africa’s diverse tourism offering beyond the usual ‘big three’ destinations of Cape Town, Johannesburg and Durban. “A large section of the Indian market includes second- and third-time visitors to South Africa, and to maintain their interest, we need travel agents to be equipped with expertise on different locations within the country. The six ‘new’ South African destinations offer a cross-section of the wildlife, adventure, lifestyle, entertainment and shopping experiences that are most in demand by the outbound Indian travel market. What is particularly appealing about the Southern Cape-Eastern Cape region, Slabber pointed out, is that it offers everything from casinos to beaches, safaris to nightlife, all within close proximity …

DOT Philippines, along with prominent travel partners from Philippines, is all set to host Philindex 2017 in four cities in India. Representatives from Philippines and DOT Philippines will educate over 600 travel trade partners from Hyderabad, Jaipur, Chandigarh and Lucknow, about the tourism offerings of the Philippines. Participating delegates will get an overview of the booming tourism industry during the interactive sessions. Other partners from Philippines, would include Cathay Pacific, Shangri-La Hotels & Resorts, Thai Airways, Philippine Airlines, Shroff International Travel Care Inc., and VFC Travel and Tours. The B2B meetings at Philindex 2017 will offer an insight to the travel trade partners on Philippines being an ideal destination for scenic wonders, adventures and business pursuits.

The Korea Tourism Organisation (KTO) launched its first ever South Korea specialist programme in India with an aim to educate Indian travel trade partners about the travel assets of South Korea. The content is specifically designed as per the needs, requirements and expectations of the Indian travellers. The course is structured into four modules, each focusing on different aspect of tourism offerings of the destination. Upon completion, the participants will be duly acknowledged with Korea Specialist certificates. The course is created and hosted on TravelGyaan website. After completing the module, the participants can further take up the itinerary challenge and stand a chance of winning an I Phone 8. Approximately 450 travel agents have registered for the programme so far while 170 have finished their training programme. Jong Sool Kwon, Director, KTO, said, “Indian outbound market has tremendous potential and diverse requirements based on which we would like to educate the travel trade partners about South Korea’s tourism assets. We urge all the travel agents to come forward and make the most of the knowledge we intend to impart.”