Travel News September 2007

Travel characteristics of Indians

Indians abroad hit the road to enjoy self-drive
TAT conducts road shows to promote the 'Seven Amazing Wonders of Thailand'
Dubai aims for more Indian tourists
Exotic foreign locales beckon Indians
Malaysia’s bid to woo NE tourists

Indians abroad hit the road to enjoy self-drive
September 8, 2007

Outbound Indians are beginning to thrive on four-wheel drives. Indians going abroad for leisure are increasingly picking up self-drive packages doled out by travel companies in droves. There are several licence-neutral nations where an Indian driving licence is legit for three to four months.

Indian visitors are latching on to such feel-good levers of ‘generous’ nations and greasing the wheels abroad. Ergo, while travel firms are busy tailoring auto-packages for their patrons, the tourism boards of Mauritius, Malaysia, New Zealand, South Africa and others seem smitten with the idea. A peek at outbound Indians with ‘self-drive’.

Ravi Lulla is 29 and works as an ad exec in one of the top advertising agencies of the country. When on the job, he occasionally pays a visit to his company headquarters in Madison Avenue, New York. Otherwise, the jetsetter’s fave destination is New Zealand where he gets to drive around the rolling dales in a car of his choice.

“Self-drive packages to New Zealand really lets me get a feel of the countryside and soak in much more than what I would have otherwise,” he says. Though Indians are used to the comfort of being driven around and escorted by experienced guides, the higher-end travellers are enjoying the pleasure and privacy of self-drives.

“This activity is being considered as a status symbol. Promoting the self-drive concept in Malaysia, Tourism Malaysia has been organising the international level car rallies and treasure hunts,” says Manoharan, director of Tourism Malaysia.

The self-drive option is really exercised by high-end globetrotters. “The self-drive holiday concept has started picking pace among frequent travellers. We are aggressively promoting it by offering customised self-drive packages,” says Vishal Suri, COO, leisure travel, Thomas Cook. Though the absolute numbers for outbound travellers opting for this kind of package is not very impressive, the growth rate ticks along at 15%.

Hiring a self-driven car costs $30-60 per day in Mauritius, depending on the make of the vehicle. In Malaysia, while renting a local car costs $10, international brands can set one back by $50 or more.

Among nations tossing up the self-drive option, New Zealand is fast gaining popularity. Thomas Cook has a brochure dedicated to self-drive options that one can avail of in New Zealand. Cox & Kings, too, is promoting New Zealand as a self-drive holiday destination.

Source: Economic Times

TAT conducts road shows to promote the 'Seven Amazing Wonders of Thailand' campaign in India
September 5, 2007

The Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT) is conducting a three city road show, 'Amazing Thailand Road Show to India' to unveil its latest international marketing campaign, 'Seven Amazing Wonders of Thailand.' The road show was held in Mumbai on September 3rd and is being held in New Delhi today. It will be held in Bangalore on September 7th, 2007. The campaign focuses on promoting the country's hospitality, historical sites, beaches, natural attractions, health-related services, boutique hotels, festivals and shopping destinations. An 18 member delegation comprising of tour operators, hoteliers, and airline representatives are participating in the event.

The new campaign, which will be featured in 18 main markets mostly located in Asia-Pacific, East Asia and European regions, is aimed at helping the country attain a target of 14.8 million inbound tourist arrivals in 2007 and 15.7 million arrivals by 2008.

Source: Travel Biz Monitor

Dubai aims for more Indian tourists
August 31, 2007

Dubai is eyeing Indian tourists, especially those from second rung cities like Chandigarh, Nagpur and Coimbatore, and intends to push up the number of visitors from India by 32,000 this year. Carl Vaz, the director of Dubai tourism in India, is going all out to make Dubai one of the most sought after destinations for Indians.

'An estimated 398,000 Indian tourists visit Dubai every year. And this figure is exclusive of the number of Indians who go there for employment purposes. But now we are aiming at making this number touch the 430,000 mark by the end of this year,' Carl Vaz, director of Dubai tourism in India, told IANS.

Of the total tourist inflow into a booming Dubai, Indians constitute just 6.3 percent, Vaz said. 'To begin with, we are targeting the population of the tier 2 cities like Chandigarh, Nagpur and Coimbatore,' Vaz said.

'There is a great surge of people from small towns and tier 2 cities willing to travel abroad for a vacation. But while the metros are already aware of the holiday destinations, the smaller cities and towns are not as much aware. Hence we are promoting Dubai in such places to trap the market there.'

Besides road shows and exhibitions, a number of below-the-line activities are being used for promotion. 'For instance, we give offers like 'Watch a movie and win free tickets to Dubai' or 'Have a happy meal at McDonald's and go to Dubai'. We also tied up with National Geographic to promote Dubai as an ideal holiday destination,' he said.

Extensive training for travel and tour operators is another thing that they are focussing on. An average holiday package from India to Dubai, which they call a weekend getaway, for three nights comes for Rs.50,000 for a couple. This includes air tickets, both to and fro, accommodation in a four-star hotel, a ship cruise and a city tour.

Dubailand, a major competition to Disneyland in Florida, will be another major tourist attraction with 45 mega projects and over 200 tourism, leisure and entertainment sub-projects. On completion in 2018, the amusement park is expected to be a city divided into six theme worlds. Its first phase will, however, be completed by 2010 and by then it aims to attract 15 million tourists.

Dubai Sports City is yet another large project in the pipeline.

Source: IANS

Exotic foreign locales beckon Indians
August 22, 2007

Gone are the days when Indians used to find solace and relief  visiting their native villages and enjoy their much earned summer or winter vacation  with their families and relatives.

The emergence of nuclear family set-up coupled with a steep rise in the income have changed the way they enjoy their holiday.

India is expected to be the third fastest growing country in the world in travel and tourism demand over the next ten years, according to the Pacific Asia Association . The growth potential along with the the 19.8 per cent increase in the number of the members living in India with financial assets of more than USD 1 million versus 6.5 per cent  growth worldwide is showing its impact in this sector, according to the Total Tourism Study by the Pacific Asia Travel Association.

Source: PTI via MSN India

Malaysia’s bid to woo NE tourists
August 24, 2007

Improved air connectivity and development of the tourism sector in the State are now providing incentives to the tourism industries of different countries to woo the people of the State as their prospective tourists. Exploring the turf of the North-east India for the first time, representatives of Tourism Malaysia, the nodal agency to promote Malaysia as a preferred tourist destination, are in Guwahati to talk business.

“Among all the north-eastern States, Guwahati is the place with a better air connectivity and the potentials to make it our starting point in the region,” said Roslan Abdullah, Director of Tourism Malaysia, North and East market.

The Malaysian delegation organised an interactive trade session with the city’s leading travel agents and tour operators. The sales mission to the city is aligned with Tourism Malaysia’s objective to target 4,00,000 tourist arrival from India, as a part of Visit Malaysia Year 2007.

Source: Assam Tribune