SAYONI BHADURI – Mumbai
Stuttgart and SouthWest Germany is looking to capitalise on the high length of stay – 6.8 days average – of the Indian traveller to promote the region as a family vacation destination for 2013. Hans-Jorg Hadbawnik, regional director for Russia and India, Stuttgart Marketing said, “For 2013, we want to focus on the family. Families are always looking for value-for-money proposition. As compared to other destinations Stuttgart offers just that.” For the family vacationers the region is promoting easy travel cards – StuttCard, HeidelbergCard, WelcomFreiburg Card, City Karte Solo, Mannheim Card and Konstanz Card. Hector D’Souza, director India, Region Stuttgart said, “We have a high length of stay which is an average of 6.8 days and we wish to capitalise on that. And in spite of the difficult global economy we have maintained that figure. An average Indian spend is 118 Euros per day.”
There is also an effort to promote leisure tours post trade fairs. There are special packages that the tourism board offers based on number of days a traveller wants to spend post a trade fair. These packages can be booked when booking for the trade fairs. “We are in talks with tour operators who promote MICE business to increase the length of stays of trade fair visitors. These operators are the most convenient way of promoting,” added D’Souza.
SouthWest Germany has also introduced its online Sales Guide 2013 with a unique identification code provided to all service bearers. This identification number can be effectively used on the web portal that provides the agent with update information on rates, services and availability. Going Cuckoo Specialist Training Programme for tour operators and travel agents has seen 350 agents pan India who have successfully completed the course.
