Travel News August 2007

Research and Market reports

Tourist arrivals in India rose 11.9 % in July

Forex earnings from tourism up 20%

MICE travel is big business

Tourist arrivals in India rose 11.9% in July
August 9, 2007

Indian tourism is on a roll and how! According to the latest figures released by the government yesterday, tourist arrivals in India rose 11.9 per cent in July as compared to the previous year. There were 3,77,474 foreign visitors in July, 2007 as against 3,37,332 in July, 2006. In terms of the foreign exchange earnings from the sector, the rise in tourist arrivals has boosted the figure by 34.6 per cent to USD 703.63 million.

Source: Travel Biz Monitor

Forex earnings from tourism up 20%
August 8, 2007

An average foreign tourist in India is spending far more now than he/she did last year. In the first seven months of this year, about 2.7 million tourists visited India and spent $4.2 billion. In the year-ago period, 2.4 million tourists visited the country and spent about $3.5 billion.

This represents an increase of about 12 per cent in arrivals and over 20 per cent in forex earnings, with an average tourist spending $1,555 on a holiday or business trip to India this year. Tarun Thukral, chief operating officer of Le Meridien, said, “In real terms, high-end business travel has gone up considerably. As a result, spending on conferences, functions and seminars too has seen a jump.”

With hotels in short supply, tourists are spending more on a room. Thukral said, “An increase in room rates is reflected in the high foreign exchange earnings by hotels. The average room rate increased 30 per cent between January and March and 20 per cent between April and July across the country.”

With the Centre aggressively pushing medical tourism by highlighting cost advantages, this segment has been growing at the rate of 25 per cent a year. Analysts estimate medical tourism can fetch the country $2 billion a year in the next five years.

Source: The Telegraph

MICE travel is big business
July 16, 2007

India's tourism industry is on the cusp of an upswing; its travel and tourism market was valued at US$ 42 billion in 2005 (Euro Monitor 2006). Globally the segment of Meetings, Incentives, Conventions & Expositions, popularly called MICE, contributes to as much as 30 per cent to the overall travel volumes and India is no exception to it. Both as a MICE destination and in MICE outbound, India stands to gain hugely.

Analysing the purposes of outbound travel, we find that VFR has always held the numero uno slot. However, this may be superceded by MICE within a few years' time. In order to become globally competitive, Indian businessmen are now travelling abroad throughout the year and unlike the leisure travel which depends heavily on the season and weather, MICE travel is a year-long proposition which translates into good business for the companies associated with it. Outbound MICE can be further segregated into various categories and the sector which is coming up fast is trade fair travel constituting the 'E' of it.

With the country going global, the importance of visiting trade fairs has become imperative. Renowned events like ITMA and CeBIT have become synonymous with showcasing latest technological developments. Moreover, they provide a global networking platform which can hardly be obtained in any other way. In fact, India is being chosen as the partner country in reputed fairs like Hannover Messe and Frankfurt Book Fair, which bears testimony to its growing economic clout.

The scenario is also fairly exciting back home. India gets close to 0.96 per cent share of the world's meetings which although miniscule, has ample room for growth. According to ICCA (International Congress & Convention Association), India can capture a chunk of the Asian MICE share, since 69 per cent of MICE meetings prefer city hotels and 21 per cent prefer resorts. Fortunately, India has an abundance of both. Countries like Singapore and Malaysia have grown exponentially in the MICE market and India has the potential to emulate them. In the domestic incentive travel market, states like Kerala, Karnataka and Maharastra are in the forefront. Their USP lies in offering a subtle mix of business with pleasure in the form of pre and post event tours, state-of-the art facilities for the corporates, etc.

However several other states have also realised the huge potential that this sector holds and are taking rapid strides to come up with their unique products. This healthy competition should raise the bar for the industry at large.

Although problems like infrastructure bottlenecks refuse to subside, reasons for hoping for a brighter tomorrow are also in plenty. Backed by the conviction of major players and laudable initiatives of the government, the sector is poised to shape the future of travel.

Source: Express Travel world