Odisha received a total of 1,18,53,088 (11.8 million) tourists in 2015, registering a growth rate of 9 per cent, said Utpal K. Pati, Deputy Director, Department of Tourism, Odisha. While 66,971 foreign tourist arrivals were recorded, 1,17,86,117 domestic tourists visited the state in 2015, he said during the state’s roadshow in New Delhi held on March 29. “We are mainly targeting the domestic market, especially tourists from Chhattisgarh, West Bengal and Andhra Pradesh, and will be organising roadshows all over India. The other agenda is to improve connectivity to the region and involve more airlines to start direct flights to Odisha. Since Bhubaneshwar airport recently started operating to international destinations, we are hoping to see a growth of about 7-8 per cent in foreign tourist arrivals this year. We are also aggressively promoting the Buddhist circuit as numerous ancient Buddhist sites are located in the state,” informed Pati. The state tourism department is going orgainse 10 roadshows in the country this year.
Read More »Scotland roundtable for trade in Mumbai
Visit Scotland gathered its top tour operators and travel trade associations for a roundtable discussion in Mumbai on the sidelines of its three-city roadshow to help push numbers and get feedback from them. Explaining the reason behind this initiative, Vineet Lal, Senior Market Manager (Long Haul & Emerging Markets), Visit Scotland, said, “We along with Etihad Airways met a lot of our top trade partners and travel trade associations in Mumbai to look at how we can increase the volume and value of the Indian market to Scotland. A lot of the conclusions were around the ability to communicate what Scotland has to offer, communicating Scotland’s top experiences and also working on a program of education both in Scotland and in India so that people on both sides understand how to do business with each other.” The Visit Scotland delegation, that includes seven Scottish suppliers, is in India on its India Business Development Mission to encourage the development of Scotland products among the travel trade in India. It was in Mumbai on February 22 and will travel to Chandigarh on February 23-24, followed by New Delhi on February 25-26. Mumbai saw around 100 attendees at Scotland workshop and around 50 at the networking dinner.
Read More »7 Emirates to conduct joint roadshow in Feb
The seven emirates of the United Arab Emirates (UAE) are going to conduct a combined roadshow in February along with OTM Mumbai. Haitham Mattar, CEO, Ras Al Khaimah Tourism Authority, said at an event, “We have signed an agreement with the National Corporation for Tourism and Hotels to do a roadshow with them along with the Dubai, Sharjah, Abu Dhabi, and other emirates to come together and promote the UAE as a destination with its various offer.” Ras Al Khaimah is targeting one million visitors by the end of 2018 and is eyeing the Indian market robustly.
Read More »SA Tourism’s 4-city roadshows from Jan 18
After successfully conducting multi-city roadshows pan India in 2015 along with the Travel Agents Association of India (TAAI), South Africa Tourism is back with its second round of shows in Kolkata (January 18, Monday), Delhi (January 19, Tuesday), Hyderabad (January 21, Thursday) and finally reaching Mumbai again (January 22, Friday). These shows will strive to give greater insight into the wide selection of experiences that South Africa has to offer – from adventure to shopping, nature and culture.
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