Comments
Travel and tourism operators are set to converge at Washington DC in June next seeking to attract Indian leisure and business visitors, presenting it as a destination hub.
Washington Dulles International Airport, Etihad Airways, IPW (a trade body of travel operators) and Destination DC, the official marketing organisation for Washington DC, are on three-city tour in India to Hyderabad, Mumbai and New Delhi, seeking to present Washington DC as a tourism hub for leisure and fun.
With the Indian visitors to the US growing each passing year, there is big expectation this number is set to swell. According to the US Department of Commerce, nearly 1.3 million Indian travellers visited the US in 2015 and this number is expected to surge 25.6 per cent by 2020 to 1.41 million.
Indian visitors to US spend was estimated at $ 11.8 billion in 2015, registering a growth of over 18 per cent over previous year.
Interacting with Business Line, a delegation of Elliott Ferguson, President and CEO of Destination DC, said Washington DC welcomed 80,000 visitors from India, making it DC's sixth largest overseas market. The number of visitors from India has grown by about 40 per cent since 2015, when it was ranked ninth.
The Capital Region, USA, the region encompassing Washington DC, Virginia and Maryland, tells a similar story with even greater rise, he explained.
With India emerging as one of the largest and fastest growing markets for air travel, and the number of Indian travelling by air increasing rapidly, there is a concerted effort to attract Indians visiting Asian and the European regions to consider Washington DC the next time they travel on a holiday.
Listing out a series of events laced together as a part of the promotional activities, Michael Martin of IPW, a body of travel operators, said the mega event is being hosted during June 3-7, 2017 in Washington where travel industry players will converge and strategise for the next phase of growth.
The five-day trade show, to be held for the first time in Washington DC, would have more than 6000 attendees from over 70 countries, including 1300 international and domestic travel buyers.
According to Rockport Analytics, Washington DC is expected to receive a $ 1.7 billion economic impact over the three years.
Ann K.Pina, Head of Airline Business Marketing, Dulles International said they look forward to serving increased number of visitors from India. As the connectivity increases and likelihood of direct flights too down the line, this would add to the convenience of travellers.
Comments
COMMENT NOW
Comments
Comments have to be in English, and in full sentences. They cannot be abusive or personal. Please abide by our community guidelines for posting your comments.
We have migrated to a new commenting platform. If you are already a registered user of TheHindu Businessline and logged in, you may continue to engage with our articles. If you do not have an account please register and login to post comments. Users can access their older comments by logging into their accounts on Vuukle.