ITM 2004: Merging Business Blueprints

Tanya Siqueira recaps Australia’s diverse product offerings showcased for the Indian travel trade at the recently concluded India Travel Mission 2004

India is an important emerging market for Tourism Australia (TA) and this market has sustained steady growth to Australia, with arrivals in the year ending December 2003 reaching 45,600. Based on a predicted growth in outbound travel, improving economic conditions and increasing awareness of Australia's holiday options, the market for Australia is anticipated to grow to 52,800 in the year 2004. Taking these facts into consideration, the recently concluded India Travel Mission (ITM) 2004, saw Australian Tourism's riveted approach towards key decision makers and product planners. The two-day interactive convention which had a total of 91 Indian travel industry representatives from 16 cities meet with 24 Australian tour operators aimed to introduce Australia to these travel agents and update them with new product offerings as well as first hand product knowledge.

Says an enthusiastic Stephen Cheah, training and events manager for Asia, Tourism Australia, "We wanted to let suppliers see what the competition is like. The mission aims to give buyers and sellers, the opportunity to initiate a relationship and for those who have attended last year's mission, we hoped that they could use this as a common ground to build on that previous initiative." Some of the 24 Australian sellers included Accor Asia Pacific Hotels & Resorts, Canberra, Crown Towers and Crown Promenade Hotel, Dreamworld, Grayline Sightseeing, Habour Town Outlet Shopping Centre, Qantas Airways and many more.

The India Perspective

With the a boom in overseas travel from India which has prompted a 38 per cent boost in Indian visitors to Australia in the first six months, Abhilasha Jain, industry services manager - India says, "We want front liners including the Aussie Specialists to be able to customise client itineraries and for product planners to customise brochures for the Indian market at large."

The new Qantas non-stop flight from Mumbai to Sydney opens up a whole new potential market. Asian carriers are expanding to other sectors and there is a visible overall growth pattern. "We have an opportunity to grow end-to-end traffic. This year will definitely see more marketing activity and budgetary allocations will definitely increase but we cannot put a number on it at the moment," mentioned Cheah.

Tourism Australia launched a campaign supporting Qantas and they believe their role is more than just promotion. "Travel agents man the public relations front while we use shows, supplements, media visits and a lot more. On the back end we are witnessing results through the Aussie Specialist Programme. The Programme is now in 18 cities, in India and we have 90 per cent of the outbound market covered. We have a tie up wit the immigration office where these agents get preference over others to enable a faster turn-around period. Australia is still a third destination market right after Europe and America. The whole idea is to project Australia as a fashionable option now that we have the capacity to meet the increase of demand head on, something that was absent earlier," adds Cheah.

Moving Ahead With Gusto

Tourism Australia's (TA) new strategy is to reactively go after the A+ segment, although all segments in India definitely want 'value for money'. Although many travel agents target the mass market TA does not actively support them as they continue to target the top end of the market. "We target the middle management to give them a chance to get a feel of the product as they are the key people actively selling the destination and more often than not they do not have a clue as to what the product is all about," added Jain.

Most sellers agreed that Indians are fast becoming a breed of well informed travellers and always make it a point to cover a few key places in Australia such as Cairns, Gold Coast, Hammen Islands, Sydney and Melbourne. Vikram Samant, managing director, Quantum Travels Pvt Ltd feels that, "Although the meet was extremely educational as one had first-hand information rather than going through an inbound operator, the ten minute time frame was insufficient. Although Melbourne is picking up really fast and the offerings are very impressive, other areas such as Tasmania and Perth which are in demand were not represented." The country seems to have surmounted almost every hurdle that comes its way for instance there are now specialised packages that cater to Jain travellers who have very specific needs. Entire theme parks may be booked for the day or multiple days and there is a specialised Jain menu available or maybe an assortment of purely vegetarian cuisine for those who do not eat meat.

Says Jenaifer Daruwalla, tour executive, Fourways Travels Pvt Ltd, "Keeping in mind the young generation of Indians, there are a whole lot of attractions targeted especially at the 20-30 age group such as Dreamworld. Another popular tour with most Indians is the sunshine tour."

Adding further, Lim Mui Khim, regional director - South Asia said, "Another destination that only keeps getting better is Tangalooma and more Indians are coming to the Wild Dolphin Resort to experience not only feeding the wild bottle nose dolphins but also a myriad of other options available. In fact, October will see the launch of a new tour to watch manatees or "dugons" as they are popularly called in Australia." Experiential tours such as those conducted by Sydney Showboats have undergone major refurbishments and offer greater value for a marginal increase in the price. Talking of experiences, The Crown Resort, Melboure has been garnering much attention as they have a range of attractions that draws people to it. "Another experiential and fast burgeoning area is wine tasting and educational tours. Indians are seriously getting into the wine tasting and drinking segment and Australia is now offering an increasing number of packages for people who share an interest in this area." All in all, ITM 2004 was definitely a runaway success that was in all essence the melting pot that merged business blueprints from Australia and India to emerge with a unique array of products.