Indian Travel Pie Too Tempting For New Destinations

Neeti Chopra - New Delhi

Michalis Metaxas	Beena Menon	Huzan Fraser	Amr Elheny Elfeky

The outbound Indian tourist finally seems to be getting his share of importance. With an increasing number of upwardly mobile Indians travelling abroad for leisure and business purposes, new destinations are preparing to grab a share of this growing market. Some of the new kids on the block that are set to tap the Indian outbound are Ireland, Cyprus and Egypt. Here's a glimpse of how they are trying to get a foothold

Ireland taking The Bollywood route

In the last couple of years, Ireland has become prominent as a new exotic destination for the Indian market. Though UK, Europe, USA and Australia are the major key source markets for Ireland, India figures amongst the most potential emerging markets such as China, South Africa, Japan and Korea.

Says Huzan Fraser of Tourism Ireland, "Looking at India's potential as an outbound market with a growing middle class hungry for frequent travel, earlier this year Tourism Ireland opened their office in India, headquartered in Mumbai. The Embassy, the Consulate and the Tourism Ireland office are together promoting Ireland and are working closely on visa related issues. We are taking travel agents to Ireland to give them a first hand experience of this attractive country. Presently, we are focusing on the metros and will gradually include the smaller cities as well."

Adding Beena Menon of Tourism Ireland says, "We are focusing on the FIT and group segment through the travel trade wherein itineraries have been drawn up in conjunction with airlines and tour operators in Ireland since the country is closely connected to Europe and therefore can form a natural holiday extension from Britain or Europe."

But what comes as a stumbling block is the low level of awareness about Ireland in India, though this is now being addressed through Tourism Ireland's initiatives. Among the various marketing strategies adopted by Ireland to increase traffic includes focus on Bollywood, travel trade, film tourism, golf tourism and events. Ireland is targeting Bollywood primarily to increase the country’s visibility in the Indian market. A delegation comprising the Film Commissioner of Ireland and Irish film producers recently visited Mumbai to participate in a film trade show. They have interacted with leading Bollywood film producers to encourage them to visit Ireland. Setting sights on the golf enthusiasts in India, Tourism Ireland has tied up with British Airways for their golf tournaments in Mumbai, Delhi and Kolkata where the winners will have the opportunity to attend the European Open and the K Club in April 2005.

History is Egypt's Advantage

With an unstable political scene in the eastern Mediterranean and the Middle East, the inevitable cool/hot spots destination branding is expected. Egypt, Lebanon and Jordan are touted as ‘cool’ spots, while Israel and Palestine are branded ‘hot’ spots. No doubt, the split has an effect on the region's overall tourism, and destinations like Egypt with unmatched cultural and natural resources is set to become the Indian traveller's choice.

Briefing about the USP of Egypt, Amr Elheny Elfeky, regional manager India, Egypt Air says, "What sells Egypt in India is that the destination is popular for sightseeing tourism because of monuments and its historic charm; and beach tourism because of adventure sports. Safety is of prime importance for a lot of Indians and Egypt is known to be a safe country. Another advantage is that Egypt is a much cheaper option than a Europe or even America and there are many attractions on offer. Last but not the least, the currency value could attract Indians to Egypt and vice versa."

Elfeky further explains that though Egypt does not have a tourism board or office in India, Egypt Air promotes the destination through its division Karnak. "We are working closely with the trade to promote Egypt. In the coming months, we plan to launch new packages ranging from three to seven nights, especially for Indian travellers. Packages for transit travellers are also being considered," concludes Elfeky.

Cyprus - tasting the water

Cyprus, an unfamiliar destination for Indian outbound tourists, has recently shown inquisitiveness in this market. Michalis Metaxas, director of marketing, Cyprus Tourism Organisation who was on a first official visit to India recently said, "Cyprus tourism has strategic plans to diversify into new markets and importance is being laid on India and China. In order to tap India, we first need to understand its market dynamics. This is a fact finding mission to India to ascertain whether there is room for opportunities here."

Cyprus receives nearly 2.3 million tourists per year especially from UK, which contributes more than 55 per cent to the total tourist arrivals. The share of India is very low. Metaxas expects approximately 1,500 Indian tourists to visit Cyprus this year.

Divulging on the strategies that Cyprus Tourism has worked out to gain the confidence of Indian outbound market, he said, "Once we identify our targets in India, we will be undertaking marketing activities in major metro cities of India. Subsequently, we will carry out generic advertising campaigns, organise familiarisation (fam) trips, implement specialised programmes starting with airline, airport staff, tour leaders and hotels to help educate people about the country. We will also participate in major tourist exhibitions. Furthermore, opening of Cyprus tourism office in India is under review. But in order to be successful in this venture, it is necessary to figure out right connections, prices, tour packages, etc."

The FIT segment in India, dominated by high-end travellers, choose foreign destinations frequently if not annually. Their 'get-set-go' approach to travel has kicked off the very best spells for Indian outbound tourism, thus, giving an additional fillip to the off-beat destinations. However, what figures these new entrants will be able to draw from India still remains to be seen.