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IACCI looking for synergies with travel trade

Plans to hold city-wise symposiums for better understanding of the trade

Andrea Lopez - Mumbai

The Indo-African Chamber of Commerce and Industry (IACCI) has expressed its strong desire to bring Africa closer to Indian travellers and bridge the gap between India and Africa by bringing to the fore the untapped potential that the continent has to offer. Apart from establishing suitable partners in mining, petroleum and other industries, the chamber also has tourism-related plans on the anvil, which involve boosting traffic between India and Africa. It is also very keen to forge alliances with travel agents and tour operators - first in Mumbai and then subsequently in other cities, and will hold symposiums starting from the end of this year. The alliances will be an opportunity for agents to discover the products of hitherto untapped destinations in the African continent that can be marketed in India, as well as an opportunity to interact with the embassies of different countries. Currently, the most popular African destinations with Indian travellers are Mauritius, Madagascar, South Africa, Seychelles and Kenya. Although other countries like Nigeria and Rwanda have had their share of political problems, the area is gradually beginning to show signs of development and is opening up for satisfactory investment opportunities, feels Sunanda Rajendran, secretary general of the Indo-African Chamber of Commerce and Industry. At a recently concluded meeting, representatives from the region have also expressed that investment in Africa from Asian countries has grown in the recent years.

To complement its plans for Africa, IACCI's agenda also includes projects that will boost India's own tourism industry; medical and education tourism being two of them. Seeing that India is opening up as a promising destination for medical, pre and post treatments, IACCI wants to push India more aggressively in this regard. Rajendran says, "We have identified 46 hospitals in Maharashtra and Goa and the other parts of India. Medical tourism has been misguided and not been marketed properly. We want to create destination India and are looking at two-way traffic to do this." Education tourism is also looking up and with student exchange programmes between India and Africa, there is a market being created for visiting friends and family. IACCI also has plans to boost traffic in this regard.