India engages with Australian trade

A horde of travel agents and tour operators from across Australia, keen on knowing more about India, attended the ‘Know India Better’ event held in Sydney on May 24. A joint initiative of India Tourism and Australia India Travel & Tourism Council (AITTC), this was the final of a series of sessions launched last year, aimed to educate the industry with updated travel information on India covering flights, hotels, infrastructure developments, visa, tours and safety awareness. According to Sandip Hor, Chairman AITTC, this project has immensely aided the industry allowing agents and tour operators to excite potential travellers on India. “Australia has moved from ninth to the seventh position in the list of foreign tourists arriving India”, said Kanchan Kukreja, Acting Director India Tourism Sydney.

Attendess heard about this exotic destination from various presentors – India Tourism, Intrepid Travel and Air India and on India’s various touristy drawcards , including some of the economic and technological developments. Madhu Mathen, Manager Air India emphasised how the direct flights between Sydney/ Melbourne and Delhi are contributing to the growth in bilateral travel. While Kukreja in her presentation engaged the audience through various showstopping scenes of India, Sandip Hor expressed thoughts of initiating similar program in India to update market with more information on Australia, AITTC objective being to promote bilateral tourism. Representatives from Air India, Accor Hotels, Intrepid Travel, Insight Vacations, Far Horizon, Taj Hotels, Grace Hotel, Special Holidays Travel were also present.