NZTB Plans to Consolidate Position In Indian Market

Charmaine Fernz - Mumbai

The recently concluded three-city road show by the New Zealand Tourism Board (NZTB) saw the board chalk out strategic plans for the Indian market. The Kiwilink programme which made its debut in Delhi and Chennai while completing its third year in Mumbai, witnessed the participation from 13 New Zealand sellers and the Fiji Visitor Bureau.

Explains Kiran Nambiar, country manager - India, NZTB, "This is the first time that the Kiwilink programme is being held in Delhi and Chennai, apart from Mumbai, for which this is the third consecutive year post the launch of the tourism board in India." Speaking of future targets, Nambiar revealed, "For the year 2003-04, New Zealand received 16,000 Indian visitors and 2.3 million global tourists. Taking the current Indian figures into consideration, we want to increase that number to 20,000 by the next year-and-a-half as well as consolidate our position in the market. Tourism is an important revenue generator as it contributes 74 million NZ$ to the New Zealand economy. The Kiwi Specialist Programme that we launched in India is also doing well with a current total of 207 agents across India as of 2004."

NZTB is also developing the education and leisure market out of India as well as the Self Drive option, which is a fast emerging trend in the Indian tourism scenario. To further capture the market, NZTB has a 10-day special Self Drive promotion on offer, pegged at Rs 95,000. "We also plan to work closely with all the carriers that fly to New Zealand. The Indian interest towards New Zealand as a destination is on the rise this year, for our travel trade event Trendz, which is being held from June 13-16, 2005 at Christchurch, 21 Indian agents have already registered. This event has 450 New Zealand companies showcase what they have on offer from Kiwiland for the global travel and tourism industry," he said.