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World Travel India, (WTI), is soon to open on 5th February at Bandra Kurla Complex in Mumbai. Billed as a…
World Travel India, (WTI), is soon to open on 5th February at Bandra Kurla Complex in Mumbai. Billed as a truly international travel industry event, the organisers say visitors can expect to see exhibitors from at least 25 countries along with numerous Indian state tourism boards. Richard Gayle, WTI’s Project Manager said “this is a remarkable achievement for a first time show and we are all delighted with the response from the international and domestic travel trade”.
“We have country pavilions, hotels and tour operators specializing in both inbound or outbound tourism. We have hosted buyers from 15 countries including Russia, Canada and the UK.”
The positive dynamics of the Indian travel market have seeded substantial interest in WTI with support pledged from numerous international destinations in the Far East, Asia and Europe. Qatar Airways were one of the first Middle Eastern exhibitors to commit their support with a large presence. They are keen to exploit the immense potential in reciprocal tourism and to challenge India’s aviation policies. Senior government officials will be attending the WTI conference at which the Qatar Airways CEO, Ahmed Al Baker, will be putting their case forward.
Another Middle East exhibitor is the government of Dubai’s Department of Tourism & Commerce Marketing. They are keen to develop the Indian market and have signed up for a substantial presence at the WTI show. The annual Dubai Shopping Festival and Dubai Summer Surprises have proven to be highly successful strategies in attracting tourism from India as well as the year round VFR traffic.
Gulf Air are looking to promote their services in the Indian travel market too. The launch of Gulf Traveller, their budget airline offering, in May will be something the airline will concentrate on between India, Bahrain and Abu Dhabi.
Hong Kong too has traditionally enjoyed substantial growth in the number of visitors from India with an estimated 200,000 visitors in 2002, up 20% on the previous year. “Indian visitors come to Hong Kong for multi fold attractions for families, honeymooners, shopping, gourmet, Green Hong Kong and Cultural Hong Kong”, said Linda Tan of the HKTB.
Tourism Malaysia will be sharing its stand with Malaysian Airlines and other suppliers from Malaysia. “Malaysia is a popular holiday destination for Indian families as it has the main ingredients required such as good hotels, Indian food, children’s entertainment and plenty of shopping and sightseeing,” said Ms Madhu, Marketing Manager, Tourism Malaysia. “English is also widely spoken in Malaysia, so there are no language barriers”.
“The national carrier Malaysia Airlines will take advantage of the newly introduced open sky policy by the Indian Government and introduce extra flights in the 1st quarter of the year 2004. This will see both the airline and the tourism industry, working jointly to introduce new packages and destinations,” added Ms Madhu.
Switzerland will be exhibiting at WTI as well as bringing a delegation to the show to take advantage of the opportunities to reach a large number of people in the industry to promote their country. Switzerland is a popular outbound choice for Indian tourists, and as Regi Wittwer, Switzerland Tourism’s marketing manager for India said “great efforts are also in place to promote the country as a destination through key accounts. We maintain a very good relationship with all major tour operators selling Switzerland.’’
“Indians travelling to Switzerland enjoy the splendid landscapes, it`s natural beauty, the greenery, the mountains where they can touch snow. Shopping in Switzerland’s cities is another beloved activity of Indian travellers”.
Indian tourism on show
Apart from the burgeoning outbound sector, the success of the WTI will also relate to the country’s vast domestic travel market. India tourists have traditionally holidayed within the country where something like 234m domestic trips are taken every year. This is another reason why the state tourist offices such as Kerala and Goa will be highly visible at the show. They not just have tremendous appeal for the domestic market, but both destinations are especially popular for holiday makers from other countries as well.
Conference set to inform & challenge
A travel conference will be staged within the WTI venue with speakers drawn from both international and domestic sectors. Dr. Harsh Varma, currently the World Tourism Organization’s (WTO) regional representative for Asia and the Pacific and Chief of the Organization’s Asia-Pacific Section, will be inaugurating the CEO Conclave at the WTI conference.
“We are delighted that Dr Varma will be addressing our conference”, said Gayle. He has accumulated unique insights into the Indian travel market from both a domestic and international perspective as prior to joining the WTO, Dr. Varma was Deputy Director General in the Ministry of Tourism and Civil Aviation of India.
From the Indian market, guest speakers will include India’s Ashish Kumar Singh, Managing Director of the Maharashtra tourism board and Vice-Chairman of SAARC Chamber Tourism Council, Mr Pradip Madhavji. In addition to the business programme, WTI will be the venue for a high profile Aviation Executive Round Table Meeting presided over by Mr Rajiv Pratap Rudy, Minister of Aviation, Government of India and the CEO of Qatar Airways, Mr Akbar Al Baker. ‘These are just some of the top names amongst a host of VIPs and guests attending World Travel India’ said Gayle.
Theodore is the Co-Founder and Managing Editor of TravelDailyNews Media Network; his responsibilities include business development and planning for TravelDailyNews long-term opportunities.
