Nepal Tourism Board in co-ordination with Royal Nepal Airlines; Cosmic Air and 7 participants from the Nepalese travel and trade sector successfully participated in the 46th TTF-OTM (Travel & Trade Fair); which was…
Nepal Tourism Board in co-ordination with Royal Nepal Airlines; Cosmic Air and 7 participants from the Nepalese travel and trade sector successfully participated in the 46th TTF-OTM (Travel & Trade Fair); which was held in Bangalore from 20-22 and Chennai from 27-29 January 2006. Termed as India`s number one consumer fair; TTF-2006 in Bangalore was officially inaugurated by Shri D.T Jayakumar; Hon. Minister of Tourism of Karnataka and in Chennai by Dr. Varaprasada Rao I.A.S; Secretary at Department of Tourism of Tamil Nadu. Both the personalities were highly impressed with the Nepal pavilion and interacted with the NTB officials as well as the Nepalese participants.
Nepal was given the Feature Country status among other participating countries like Egypt; Hong Kong and Malaysia. Other participating Indian states included Orissa; Goa; Himachal Pradesh; Jammu & Kashmir and West Bengal.
TTF provided the people of Bangalore and Chennai with an `under-one-roof` opportunity to make their travel plan-both national and international. The people coming for the fair interacted face-to-face with the top brass of actual tour operators and officials from many state tourism departments; collected information and even made instant bookings. The Indian press showed particular concern over direct air accessibility and Nepalese tourism products strength especially religious or pilgrimage sites in Nepal.
The Nepal Pavilion was decorated with Himalaya cutouts and posters depicting various attractions of Nepal especially Pashupatinath & Muktinath temples to attract religious South Indian travelers. Approximately 10;000 general and 500 trade visitors marked their presence in both the fairs. The visitors` response was quite encouraging as most of them were special inquiries about tour packages for Pashupatinath; Muktinath and Kailash Manasarovar; which were well attended by the Nepalese participants.
Nepal Tourism Board was awarded the Excellence Award for Group Participation in Bangalore and Excellence Award for Best Print Promotional Material in Chennai. The award for Best Print Promotional material was given to NTB`s specially printed brochure for South India Nepal-Abode of Peace and Salvation from Pouranic Age; a description of the pilgrimage sites of Nepal. One of Nepal`s participants Explore Nepal Richa Tours and Travels also won the Excellence Award in the Best Innovative Product Category for their initiative in building guesthouses in Kailash Manasarovar Parikrama trail.
Coinciding with TTF-OTM; NTB along with 6 Nepali travel trade companies further strengthened its promotional campaign in South India by successfully organizing a Destination Promotion Nepal Evening at the Residency Hotel; Coimbatore on 24 January 2006 and at the Taj Residency on 25 January 2006 in Cochin. The highly acclaimed multimedia presentation on Nepal`s tourist attractions was shown in both the programs and was followed by a B2B session for the tour operators. The event was mainly focused on promoting Nepal as a premiere holiday destination and highlighting religious tourism in view of upcoming Mahashivaratri festival.
The prominent print as well as electronic media from South India including the popular Doordarshan Channel covered both the events. The function at Coimbatore witnessed the presence of approximately 40 tour operators while around 60 tour operators attended the B2B session at Cochin.
Addressing the forum; Mrs. Ujjwala Dali-Manager; Tourism Marketing & Promotion informed that India is a very important market for Nepal and since Religious Tourism is of special interest to South Indian travelers Nepalese participants are promoting special packages to Pashupatinath for the forthcoming festival in February. Packages for Muktinath-Jomsom & Kailash Manasarovar trip were also found to be very much in demand by South Indian tourists. Mrs. Dali also highlighted on other areas of interest that included leisure holidaymakers; adventure travel enthusiasts and honeymooners.
Ms. Dali further urged the South Indian corporate to consider Nepal as a destination for Meetings; Incentives and Conferences saying; “Himalayan Kingdom offers a complete MICE package at very attractive rates”.
Nepal Tourism Board was represented by Mrs. Ujjwala Dali-Manager and Ms. Shradha Shrestha-Officer; Tourism Marketing & Promotion. The private companies who participated in TTF were; Eco Treks Private Limited; Explore Nepal Richa Tours and Travel; Heritage Tours and Travel; Samrat Tours and Travel; Satyam Tours and Travel; Fishtail Tours and Travel; Peak Promotion Tours and Travel & Agrawal Travels.
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