Tag Archives: SanJeet

The Philippines Tourism recently concluded its first city in the four-city India roadshow in New Delhi. The event witnessed an overwhelming response from the travel trade. The roadshow commenced with New Delhi on 7th August 2023 followed by the cities of Kolkata, Chennai, and Mumbai. In attendance at the roadshow were 14 private players from The Philippines that includes Ark Travel Express, bai hotel Cebu, DOT Central Visayas, Dusit Hotels & Resorts, Gi Philippines, Lalaguna Villas Luxury Dive Resort and Spa, Okada Manila, Philippines Airlines, Plantation Bay Resort and Spa, Scoot, Shangrila, Shroff International Travel Care, The Farm at San Benito and Uni Orient Travel. The well-attended event had the Indian travel trade conduct successful business interactions with Philippines Tourism officials. The Philippines were confidently marketed as a tourist destination, especially for its natural beauty, rich culture, and exciting activities. Addressing the gathering, Mr. Shahlimar Hofer Tamano, Undersecretary for Tourism Regulation Coordination & Resource Generation, and concurrent Director for Regional office VII, says ‘’India has always been a significant ally for the Philippines, not only in terms of tourism but also due to shared values between the two countries. We take pride in India maintaining its position as a significant contributor of tourist arrivals to the Philippines and eagerly anticipate the country reaching new heights in terms of visitor numbers.’’ During the event, The Philippines Tourism showcased an array of captivating tourist experiences, including thrilling off-road adventures, visits to historic landmarks, and the opportunity to immerse oneself in the authentic Philippine village life. Attendees were also treated to the enchanting tale of the country’s rich history and cultural heritage. The presentation further highlighted the breathtaking beauty of the country’s natural …

CovidSMART is DDP Group’s latest initiative, a programme designed by WHO-certified professionals and ISO-trained individuals to promote safe travel and help build in tour operators & travel agents the confidence to succeed in this industry, once again. To access the programme, you can log on to www.covidElearn.com. Key learnings would include protecting your business during COVID-19, dealing with emergencies and anxiety related to the pandemic and its impact, and the importance of a PPE kit. SanJeet, Director, DDP Group, says, “All our initiatives during this pandemic have been our way of looking after our tourism industry and this is another such programme. Our aim is that every travel professional should accept this fast-paced change, be prepared and be ready to drive tourism in the future. By introducing CovidSMART, we hope to put India in the driver’s seat. Now, it is up to the travel industry to encash this opportunity. I encourage the industry to convey to their partners as well as the Indian travellers that they will now be dealing with a COVID-19 certified specialist, who understands and will guide them through this jungle.”

The DDP Group, to support travel and hospitality companies affected by the COVID-19 crisis, has created a media fund of Rs1 crore under its ‘Standing with the Trade’ initiative. The move will help support businesses by providing targeted advertising campaigns, free of cost. Advertisements will be provided on a first-come, first-serve basis. Interested businesses can contact the DDP team through gaganpreet@ddppl.com. This initiative is supported by all of DDP Group’s premier publications, including TravTalk, Tourism Breaking News, TravelTV.News, M!CETalk and Hospitality Talk. Together, these publications reach 600,000 travel and hospitality professionals daily. “The timeliness and effectiveness of our actions as a united industry are more important than ever before and we are hoping that our initiative can assist stressed businesses till the market begins to strengthen again. Although it is difficult to predict how long this might continue, history has enough examples to show that after a time of economic difficulty, industry and countries have always bounced back,” says SanJeet, Director, DDP Group.

Highlighting areas where the Ministry of Tourism will spend more on promotional activities, Rashmi Verma, Secretary, Tourism and Chairman, PATA India Chapter, spoke of the Ministry’s three-pronged strategy at PATA India’s first-ever Tourism PowerHouse held at The Park, New Delhi. “We have a three-pronged strategy for increasing inflow to the country. First, we have G2G interactions; 16 MOUs have been signed in this regard. The second is promoting through B2B interactions, where we have employed a number of methods. We have been participating in all major world tourism marts that give us an excellent opportunity. Apart from that, we have roadshows in which we lead a delegation of the industry and give a platform to them for further networking. This year, we’re taking things a step forward and organising India Travel Mart in September, which is likely to get 250 buyers from around the world. The third part of the strategy is more B2C interactions. How we reach out to consumers is the third aspect of our strategy,” she elaborated.

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.

Rashmi Verma, Secretary, Ministry of Tourism, Government of India, will lead PATA India Chapter as its Chairperson for the term 2017-19. This was announced during the 47th Annual General Meeting of PATA India Chapter held at The Claridges, New Delhi on December 19. While SanJeet, Director, DDP Publications, was re-elected as the association’s Vice Chairman; J.S. Taneja, MD, Travel Spirit International, will continue to hold the post of Hon. Secretary, and the post of Hon. Treasurer has been re-assigned to Vikram Madhok, MD, Abercrombie & Kent. The association also elected its Executive Committee for the term 2017-19. Under the Active Government Category, Rashmi Verma and Suman Billa, Joint Secretary, Ministry of Tourism, Government of India will hold the post, while Ravneet Kaur, CMD, ITDC and Sanjiv Garg, Additional Member T&C, Ministry of Railways will be EC members under the Associate Government Category. Pankaj Srivastava, Director-Commercial, Air India, has been elected EC member under the International Carrier category. Under the Domestic Carrier category, Ragini Chopra, VP, Jet Airways and M.P. Mall, CMD, IRCTC have been elected. The four posts for Travel Agents/Tour Operators category have been given to Vikram Madhok, J.S. Taneja, Snirmol Ghosh, Director, Indo Asia Tours and Anoop Kanuga, Director, Bathija Travels. Under the Hotels/ Associate Hotels category, the three members are: Renu Basu, VP, Indian Hotels; Arjun Sharma, MD, Select Holiday Resorts; and Rohit Arora, GM, Apeejay Surendra Park Hotel. SanJeet will be an EC member under the Sustaining Member category.

  Destination Canada recorded a significant growth of over 37 per cent in Indian arrivals to Canada in the month of April 2017, compared to the same period last year. This rise in the growth rate substantiates the fact that a large number of Indian visitors had explored the tourism offerings of Canada in April. SanJeet, India Representative, Destination Canada, said, “The 37 per cent increase in Indian footfall to Canada is a big achievement and motivation for us. Having shown such a huge growth proves that Indians are looking at exploring Canada for its exclusiveness. From scenic beauty, shopping avenues, adventurous experiences, train journeys to self-drives, Canada has everything to offer for Indian travellers. We are optimistic about breaking our previous arrival records by the end of 2017.”

Netherlands Board of Tourism & Conventions (NBTC) announced an increase in Indian arrivals to the Netherlands in the first quarter of 2017. In comparison with the last year’s Q1 Indian arrival figures, the country recorded a growth of over 19 per cent in Indian arrivals to Holland from January to March this year, proving that India is one of the top growing markets for the destination. SanJeet, India Representative – NBTC, said, “It gives us immense pleasure to let everyone know that the Indian market continues to be one of the important contributors of international visitors to Holland. Last year, Holland came much closer to the millions of Indian travellers with Jet Airways launching daily non-stop flights from India to Holland. Business missions in 2016 have also increased the graph of Indian arrivals to Holland. With our consolidated efforts in shaping Holland as a perfect getaway destination for Indian travellers, we are hopeful of achieving a double-digit growth.” To encourage more and more Indian tourists to visit Holland, NBTC has multiple activities planned including familiarisation trips and a three-city business mission in Delhi, Mumbai and Bengaluru. To engage with travel trade on a consistent and sustained basis, NBTC is also looking to participate in various multi-city travel trade shows.

The Philippines has witnessed a growth of 28 per cent in Indian tourist arrivals during January-February, 2017, compared to the same period last year. As per the official data released by the Department of Tourism (DOT), Philippines, more than 19,000 Indians visited the Philippines in the first two months of 2017 and as a result India has now jumped to the 11th rank among the top source markets for the island nation. In 2016, more than 90,000 Indian tourists visited the Philippines and recorded 21.27 per cent of annual growth. Speaking about the growth, SanJeet, Tourism Attaché, Philippines Tourism Marketing Office India, said, “Over the years, we have seen a steady growth in Indian tourists to the Philippines and are confident that this trend will continue. We are extremely delighted that the year 2017 is giving us a good start and our continued efforts in targeting the Indian holiday planners through aggressive marketing initiatives will yield even better results by the year end.” In 2017, the DOT Philippines will be more focused on consumers as well as corporates to promote this beautiful archipelago as a Leisure, Luxury, Wedding and MICE destination. “We want to leverage on our tourism product offerings and attract the Indian traveller to soon achieve our target of 100,000 tourist arrivals to the Philippines,” added SanJeet.

Destination Canada’s year-end data highlights that there has been a remarkable growth in the number of Indian tourists who visited Canada in the year 2016. More than 215,664 Indian tourists sojourned in the country from January-December, 2016, registering a remarkable growth of 13.2 per cent as compared to 2015. SanJeet, India Representative – Destination Canada, said, “This huge rise in arrivals from India proves that Indians are exploring Canada for the kind of diversities it offers. In 2016, Canada has been promoted extensively with the travel trade as well as consumers and we are hopeful to maintain steady growth this year as well, which is a special for all of us as Canada turns 150.” Last year, Destination Canada India office conducted a series of extensive market reach programmes including agent training sessions across India, consumer activations, digital campaigns, social media campaigns, familiarisation trips, networking sessions, among other activities. If reports came from the Tourism Industry Association of Canada (TIAC) are to go by, Canada welcomed a total of 20 million visitors in 2016, a 14 year high. In 2015 the Tourism Industry Association of Canada set a 5 year industry goal to bring 20 million visitors to the country by 2020.