KAHINI CHAKRABORTY – Mumbai
ENIT- Italian State Tourist Board will be opening its office in Mumbai this year. The office will be in charge of promoting Italy in the Indian market and will also contribute in facilitating visa procedures. Italy aims at doubling the growth in tourists inflow from the Indian market. In the year 2011 the destination received two lakh Indian tourists and in the first nine months of last year it got 50,000 tourists, informed Marco Bruschini, director general, ENIT- Italian State Tourist Board to Express TravelWorld.
As part of its marketing strategy, the board is looking at adopting a three-pronged strategy wherein it will engage in aggressive promotion of tourism products that Italy has to offer to all the segments; an active ENIT office and appoint more number of staff in the consulate to help in visa issuance.
It is also planning to organise more number of workshops in the market for the travel trade. Elaborating on the potential of the Indian market, Bruschini added, “For us India is among the core emerging BRIC countries and hence we have come to the market to establish our presence once again. Italy has all the conditions for growth and we are hoping for direct flight connectivity from Delhi-Rome via Alitalia. Apart from leisure, we have seen a lot of high-end Indian tourists opting to visit Italy for honeymoon, art, culture and MICE purpose.”
