Category Archives: NTO (National Tourist Offices)

The Thailand Convention & Exhibition Bureau (TCEB) successfully concluded its two-city roadshow in Bengaluru and Mumbai with a delegation of 30 sellers that included hotels, special event venues, DMCs, and airlines. The delegation was led by Nooch Homrossukhon, Director (Meetings and Incentive), TCEB, with the top management of the Meetings and Incentive department. “The agenda for this roadshow was to promote newer destinations catering to the premium segment such as the riverside properties and the Silverlake vineyard in Pattaya. We also want to talk about options for CSR activities that Indian corporate companies can participate in, in Thailand,” she said. TCEB also hosted an exclusive networking dinner for corporate clients in Mumbai after the roadshow. The bureau recently launched its own location-based mobile application for corporates called ‘Biz Thailand’ that helps them find restaurants, attractions, entertainment, hotels, meeting spaces and convention centres around them.

Come August, TravelShop Turkey is organising workshops for the travel trade in New Delhi, Ahmedabad, Mumbai, Kolkata, Chennai, and Bengaluru. The 6-city workshop will begin with New Delhi on August 1, then move to Ahmedabad (August 2), Mumbai (August 3), Kolkata (August 4), Chennai (August 5), and Bengaluru (August 6). The workshops will showcase Turkey’s latest programs for the Indian market. Participants will also get an oopportunity to learn how to sell Turkey as destination, meet with Culture & Tourism Counsellor, TST staff, Turkish Airlines staff, meet with Turkish hotels, and win free Fam trips all around Turkey. “As we know Indian market is very sensitive, specially for food, jain, veg and non veg. thats why it would be good for you to come and get the latest information for visa, payment methods, guides, itineraries, activities, night life and transportation,” said Murtaza Kalender, General Director, TravelShop Turkey.

The Embassy of Bosnia and Herzegovina and Tourism First together organised Bosnia and Herzegovina tourism promotion session in Delhi at the Bosnia and Herzegovina Embassy for the first time. Dr. Sabit Subasic, Ambassador, Embassy of Bosnia and Herzegovina was in Mumbai with a similar event and he is likely to visit Kolkata next. He said, “We want more tourists from Delhi and this region of India to visit Bosnia. We get tourists from Maharashtra, Gujarat, Bengaluru and Kolkata. I hope to receive around 15,000 tourists from India.”

Tourism Australia’s arrival statistics for May 2016 revealed the highest ever visitation in any given month from India to Australia. 27,400 tourists from India visited Australia during the peak school holiday period, an increase of 18 per cent vis-à-vis May 2015, signifying Australia’s rising popularity as a leisure holiday destination amongst outbound Indian travellers. Total arrivals for the year ended (YE) May 2016 were recorded at 238,000, an increase of 8 per cent relative to the same period last year, making India the 9th largest inbound market for arrivals to Australia. For the year ended March 2016, Indian tourists spent A$ 1.14 billion on their Australian sojourn, that saw an increase of 19 per cent over the previous year. A majority of Indian tourists (67 per cent) visited Australia for the purpose of leisure. The average spend for Indian visitors increased by 10 per cent to A$ 5,215. In addition, the average length of stay for all visitors from India was recorded at 65 nights, with a 47 per cent repeat visitation. Nishant Kashikar, Country Manager, India & Gulf, Tourism Australia, said, “We are delighted to announce our highest ever arrivals from India. It is a significant and momentous occasion for Tourism Australia to see such a great response from the Indian market. Our marketing activities in collaboration with our key distribution and airline partners, with an increased thrust on digital initiatives, improved air connectivity between the two countries, stability of the Australian dollar, introduction of the pilot electronic lodgement of visa applications program, have been key factors in boosting travel to Australia. By 2025, we expect India to be among the top five markets for Tourism Australia.” The Tourism …

Nepal Tourism Board along with Nepal Airline Corporation is conducting a three-city roadshow in India. It started with Mumbai on July 5, followed by Ahmedabad on July 6 and Hyderabad sometime in August this year. The eight-member delegation from Nepal included hotels, agents and allied services. Ranu Shah, Senior Officer (Tourism Product & Resources Development), Nepal Tourism Board, said, “We want to promote Nepal aggressively in India after the earthquakes that hit tourism business last year.” Meanwhile, Nepal Airlines is looking at improving air connections between India and Nepal. Shailesh Kansakar, Deputy Director (External & Public Affairs), Corporate Development, Nepal Airlines, added, “We are currently busy with conducting a survey to calculate the potential in starting operations from Ahmedabad and Hyderabad to Kathmandu.”

Tourism New Zealand’s annual travel trade event, Kiwi Link India, is scheduled to take place from July 11-13, 2016, in Mumbai. The event will include full-day workshops on July 11 and 12 and a frontline training for travel trade agents in Mumbai on July 13, 2016. The event provides the opportunity for the Indian travel agents, product managers and planners to interact with New Zealand operators and understand the new developments in the tourism sector. Kevin Bowler, Chief Executive, Tourism New Zealand, says, “Kiwi Link India 2016 will see participation from 35 operators from New Zealand, four airlines, Immigration New Zealand and 80 Indian delegates. Tourism New Zealand will also be hosting key buyers from around India in Mumbai for the first two days of the event. It is one of Tourism New Zealand’s biggest trade shows and is very important to us as India is one of our priority emerging markets. Having a well-informed travel trade is critical to converting interest into bookings. This event provides an ideal platform for us to strengthen relations with our stakeholders in the Indian travel trade, supporting their ability to sell travel to New Zealand, particularly during the shoulder seasons”.

In an attempt to increase the visibility of Seychelles in the Indian market and increase the number of Indian tourist arrivals to the island, Seychelles Tourism Board conducted tourism promotional roadshows in Mumbai, Chennai and Bengaluru. This was a follow up of similar roadshows conducted in Delhi and Mumbai in 2014. In 2015, Seychelles saw 183 per cent growth in tourist arrivals compared to 2014 and 85 per cent growth from January-April 2016 as compared to the same period last year. Addressing the travel trade, Sherin Naiken, CEO, Seychelles Tourism Board, said, “We are in India to invite you all to be our partners on the ground here and to work with us to offer your clients and the Indian holiday makers a new holiday destination.” Many travel and tourism industry representatives were present at the roadshows namely, Air Seychelles, Ethiopian Airlines, SriLankan Airlines, Kempinski Seychelles Resort, Eden Island Development Company, Constance Ephelia Resort, Sainte Anne Resort & Spa, Banyan Tree Seychelles, AVANI Seychelles Barbarons Resort & Spa, Le Relax Hotels – Seychelles, Enchanted Island Resort and Savoy Resort & Spa Seychelles, Holidays Box and Akquasun Group. Alain St.Ange, Tourism Minister of Seychelles was also present at the event. Anges explained that India and Seychelles are connected by direct non-stop flight from Mumbai on Air Seychelles with seamless connections from Bangalore with Jet Airways, a partner airline of Air Seychelles and is also well connected with Ethiopian Airlines, SriLanka Airlines, Kenya Airways, Etihad and Emirates. He also added, Indian nationals do not need visas to travel to Seychelles and a range of accommodation establishments are available to suit every budget.

The Australian High Commission in New Delhi has granted a record 150,000 visitor visas during the 2015-16 program year. There were a record 233,000 arrivals from India during 2015, a growth of 19 per cent, which represents the highest growth in the past seven years. India’s ranking improved from eleventh to eighth largest inbound tourists destination for Australia. The High Commission celebrated the big achievement with a function where the visa recipient was felicitated. Nishant Kashikar, Country Manager, India & Gulf, Tourism Australia, said, “I think it’s a remarkable achievement and a significant milestone as far as Tourism Australia is concerned because in 2015 we crossed the 100,000 visa application mark and in just a year we have 150,000 visa application. In fact, the year 2015 has been quite a significant year for Tourism Australia. Arrivals went up by almost 19 per cent and this was the highest growth we have seen in the past 7 years.” Australia’s High Commissioner to India, Harinder Sidhu, said, “It is a landmark achievement. This is the first time ever that we have reached the 150,000-mark in visitor visa approvals in India for a year. One hundred fifty thousand visitor visas is a sign of the growth of the relations between our two countries. I welcome it as a positive milestone. The achievement underlines the fast expanding links between Australia and India. More and more Indians are travelling to Australia for business, tourism and to study in our universities, as well as visit family.”  

As part of VisitBritain’s new strategy in India, VisitBritain is moving its headquarters from New Delhi to Mumbai and has named Vishal Bhatia, B2B and Deputy Country Manager as the Interim Country Manager from July 1 till September 30, 2016. He will replace outgoing Country Manager Shivali Suri who was based in the Delhi office. Bhatia is based at the British High Commission in Mumbai.

The South African Department of Home Affairs has finally submitted to the demands of the travel agents and tour operators regarding visa issues for Indians. Hanneli Slabber, Country Manager – India, South Africa Tourism, who will be in India till December 2016, has revealed that Indians do not have to carry birth certificates while travelling with children anymore. “We are very happy that the visa process for Indians has been simplified. The processing days have been brought down under five days as well as the need for carrying birth certificates for children has been eliminated. The Department of Home Affairs has mapped out the seasons and they send us extra support, in terms of manpower, during those times. So the processing is quickened at both the High Commission as well as the Consulate specifically for the Indian market. The big part of our travel is during the Indian monsoon from May through August, which led to a huge bottleneck,” she said.