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| V
K Duggal |
The
concretising of the first-ever Tourism Corporate Marketing
Plan by the Ministry of Tourism (MOT) at Delhi, has set the
stage for Indian tourism to make its mark in the global industry.
The Corporate Marketing Plan for the coming year 2003-04 was
discussed with 13 overseas Indian tourism office heads, along
with senior officers from MoT, travel trade members and the
hotel industry. Another important development was the launch
of a re-assurance campaign for the upcoming tourist season
to salvage the downturn and persuade tourists to return.
Revealed V K Duggal, director general tourism, Government
of India: “Foreign tourist arrivals have dropped by 14
per cent in the last year. It is thus inevitable that one
needs to regain the confidence of the international market.
Reviewing the performance of the 13 overseas offices, it was
a necessity to set up fresh strategies and promotional techniques.
Subsequently, the Plan was prepared to focus on various segments
of the industry and capitalise on marketing trends that prevailed
to the advantage of India. Joint marketing strategies are
also on the cards with major airlines, tour operators and
neighbouring countries.” However, discussions with respect
to detailing and final enforcing of plans are underway.
MoT is looking at marketing and promoting India in the global
market through aggressive mass media campaigns including electronic,
print and the Internet. For the coming two years, the ministry
also proposes an enhanced budget for marketing and publicity.
A centralised electronic media campaign will be launched in
major overseas markets along with the production of thematic
publicity materials and collaterals.
Disclosed Rathi Vinay Jha, secretary tourism, government of
India: “Our international tourism offices function as
ambassadors, proving to be the voice and eyes of India. It
is thus necessary to project India in all its glory and hence
a revamped and refreshed strategy and campaign would help
achieve the country’s tourism plans. The aggressive marketing
strategy will establish the brand equity of India in the international
arena with sub-brands being the state tourism products.”
Further, MoT has taken certain steps to identify strategies
to combat the recent situation they include a tourism task
force and holding consultations with industry experts. The
results focus on direct communication to leading overseas
tour operators, surveys of foreign tourists in India and publicising
surveys in India, overseas press releases addressing safety
concerns, and other public relation efforts by overseas office.
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