Outbound

Scandinavian Tourist Board sees India in top 5 source markets in Asia Pacific

Neeti Mehra - Mumbai

Soren Leerskov Managing Director (Asia Pacific) Scandinavian Tourist Board

Scandinavian Tourist Board (STB), having entered soon after the Finnish Tourist Board paved way, has identified India as one of its top five source markets in Asia Pacific. It had recently appointed Marco Marketing Concepts as its representative in India. Scandinavia consists of Denmark, Norway and Sweden, while the neighbouring Iceland and Finland along with Scandinavia form the Northern countries.

Speaking to Express TravelWorld, Soren Leerskov, its managing director (Asia Pacific), said, "India's potential is underestimated; it has the potential to become the third or fourth largest market in Asia Pacific." Currently, Japan and China lead. He ranked India with a potential comparable to Australia and Korea, and the investment amount is the same earmarked in these countries.

The tourism board has a strategic alliance with Finnair in India, with flights from Mumbai (five times a week) and Delhi (daily) to Helsinki. The carrier is the only one which flies from India to north Europe and is the gateway to the Scandinavian states. Currently there are no direct flights to Scandinavia as SAS Scandinavian Airlines withdrew services from India in the mid-90s. "We do not anticipate direct flights to Scandinavia. We will therefore work closely with Finnair in India," Leerskov added. Entry to these countries is through a Schengen Visa.

The Scandinavia core package includes Oslo, Stockholm, the fjords - the main highlight of the whole loop, and Copenhagen, Leerskov said. In other countries, STB works closely with the Finnish and the Icelandic tourism boards. Speaking of the target market, he said, "The leisure market is a prerequisite to launch other products. Incentive markets are an extension of our leisure programme, but are unique," he said. Fly and drive products are also popular. The average spend by a tourist is approximately Rs 13,000 per day, and the classic package consists of nearly 10 days. "There are many other cities that can be accessed through mass marketing automatically, initially by making our core product accessible through our distribution system, and later by creating demand through the media," he said.

STB is developing a marketing mix of trade and consumer-led promotions. In addition to educational programmes for agents, it will tap the travel trade through a specialist trade website for the Indian market, due to be launched in autumn. "Scandinavia is a high yield market. While the yields in central Europe are approximately five per cent, in Scandinavia it ranges from 10-15 per cent," Leerskov said.

To cater to the Indian traveller, STB will ally with vegetarian and Indian restaurants. Last year Indian travellers spent nearly 1.2 lakh overnights in Scandinavia and Finland, and he expects an increase of approximately 20-25 per cent this year. He adds, "This is after we consider the general outbound growth to Europe, which is approximately 20 per cent, and the fact that we will have increased accessibility by Finnair."