The Hindu Business Line : Foreign tourism boards vie for Indian travellers

Be it short-haul destinations like Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, Mauritius or long-haul ones like Australia or even the US, Indians comprise a significant section of the tourists visiting these countries. In fact, tourism boards see higher growth in tourism from India rather than other Asian countries.

Tourism Forecasting Council, an Australian agency, predicts 18.4 per cent average annual growth in the number of Indian tourists visiting the continent through to 2015 as compared to visitors fromThailand (4.6 per cent), Indonesia (10.3 per cent), Singapore (2.28 per cent) and Malaysia (4.6 per cent).

By end-2007, Australia expects 1.03 lakh Indian visitors - a growth of 23 per cent, which again is much higher compared to figures for other markets in Asia.

Higher arrivals

The scenario looks similar in Singapore, too, where India ranks fourth in terms of visitor arrivals, contributing seven per cent to the overall visitor arrivals. Between January and June 2007, Singapore saw 15 per cent growth in Indian arrivals and this is likely to continue through the rest of this year.

Other places such as Sri Lanka, Malaysia and Mauritius have also seen more than 10 per cent growth in Indian arrivals between January and July this year as compared to last year.

"A rapidly growing economy, a strong rupee and higher disposable income means that Indians are today willing to travel across the globe. Not only are Indians increasingly travelling to various destinations, they are also becoming adventurous travellers," said Ms Maggie White, General Manager (South, South-East Asia and Gulf Countries) for Tourism Australia.

According to Mr Rajeev Nangia, Associate Director, Mauritius Tourism c/o TRAC Representations, "Indian travellers today are looking for high-end resorts and totally international standards of services."

Special packages

When the potential for expansion is huge, tourist boards are devising special strategies for the Indian market. "As compared to other global markets, our advertisement spends on campaigns in India and China are higher," said Singapore Tourism's Ms Siew-Kheng Kang, Regional Director (South Asia, Middle East and Africa). Agrees Ms Maadhuri Verma, Manager of Sri Lanka Tourist Board, "We have augmented our budget allocation for communications to develop the Indian tourist sector further within the country."

The competitive spirit between the tourism boards is leading to discounted and special packages, and assurance of best holidays. "India today has become a competitive market as more and more national tourism offices have set up offices or are undertaking marketing activities. In order to effectively target the travellers, the key lies in innovation and customisation of product to suit region-specific demand," said Mr Manoharan, Director of Tourism Malaysia, India.