Kahini Chakraborty – Mumbai
With the Indian market contributing to the tourism growth of the destination, VisitBritain is looking at continuing its promotional focus on culture and heritage segments. As 2013 has proved to be a record year in terms of five per cent increase in tourism numbers and 12 per cent increase in spending, the tourism board is allocating approximately one million pound for tourism promotional strategies to the market.
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Sandie Dawe
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Talking to Express TravelWorld, Sandie Dawe MBE, chief executive, VisitBritain informed, “We are not changing the message of what’s GREAT in Britain, but we are looking at promoting different experiences. Britain’s image has improved on the back of the Olympic Games and the Royal Wedding. Working closely with the travel trade in India is of prime importance to us. We are looking at attracting the affluent middle class family segment from the Indian market. Apart from culture and heritage which are our primary segments, Bollywood tourism, sports tourism, music and shopping are also of importance to us. India is the biggest of our BRICS market and it is numbered 15 in terms of value in our top 20 source markets. We look at four aspects – image of Britain, products on sale here, distribution through travel trade, access-transport/visa. Hence we are constantly working towards bringing in new products in the market to cater to the demands of the discerning customers. We will be stepping up our digital work campaigns.”
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Sumathi Ramanathan
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In March 2014 VisitBritain will again join hands with the European Tour Operators Association for the third year running of March Marketplace. For the Hosted Buyers Marketplace, which will be held at the Wembley Stadium, VisitBritain has invited 15 travel trade buyers from the Indian market. More than 200 UK suppliers will be participating in the Hosted Buyers Marketplace event this year. “For 2015, we are looking at growing this event at a bigger scale,” she opined.
With an aim to work closely with the travel trade in India, VisitBritain is looking at expanding its presence in the Tier II cities, through global partnerships and work with other regional players in the market. Presently the tourism board has about 900 agents from across India who have completed the BritAgent online destination specialist programme which was launched two years ago. “We are interested in having a retention programme for our travel agents. And we will be launching new modules for the specialist programme to keep them updated on the latest developments, acquisition programmes. Our focus markets are Delhi, Mumbai, Bengaluru but we will increase our presence in Kolkata, Chandigarh, Hyderabad and Chennai. Engagement with the travel trade is key to us,” added Sumathi Ramanathan, regional manager, Asia Pacific & Middle East, VisitBritain.
