Destination Britain India 2017, VisitBritain’s largest, flagship event in India was held for the first time in a Tier 2 city – Pune. The event saw more than 75 buyers from pan India network with 25 British suppliers to empower them to better service the ever popular destination among Indian travellers By Steena Joy
VisitBritain hosted its flagship tourism event in India, Destination Britain India, for the first time in a Tier II city – at the Hyatt Regency in Pune. That itself is indicative of the growth potential the NTO sees in India’s secondary markets. More than 25 suppliers from the UK including Visit Scotland, Tourism Ireland, UK Visa and Immigration, etc showcased Britain’s tourism strengths to Indian buyers at the ‘Destination Britain India’ event. More than 75 buyers from cities across India including Kolkata, Chandigarh, Bengaluru, etc saw the event as an opportunity to see the latest tourism products and services from one of India’s favourite destinations.
Sumathi Ramanathan, director, Asia Pacific, Middle East & Africa (APMEA), VisitBritain, said, “Visit Britain works in 27 markets around the world and India is one of them. Today, India is one of the fastest growing markets with a 7.5 per cent average growth, so it is the right time for us to be here. And organising the event in Pune gives out a strong message to our suppliers that India is beyond just Mumbai and Delhi.” She added that India is a vast country so there are both opportunities and challenges. “We are pilot testing some programmes to see the appetite. We want return on investment as the government budget is limited,” she stated.
Speaking exclusively to Express TravelWorld, Ramanathan informed that, “So far we have been focussing on the leisure segment but now we have been given a mandate by our government to invest in business events. As air connectivity between India and UK has increased, we can push MICE opportunities in Glasgow, Edinburgh, Manchester, etc.”
She was definite that the way forward is digital. “A picture speaks a thousand words so videos and imagery are excellent communication tools. We are adopting an integrated strategy for all our communications via PR, Social Media and across all digital platforms. We would like to curate our content for Social Media and want to move to more video content rather than images,” she elaborated. Commenting on visa approval rates, she remarked, “Visa processing has improved tremendously. There is a high visa approval rate – 88 per cent of visa applications are approved.”
The event also saw the new appointment of Vikas Sheth as VisitBritain’s country manager for India, who will be based in Mumbai.
The India story
A panel discussion on Tourism Trends had eminent travel industry professionals express their valuable insights on the market scenario – Ashwini Kakkar, executive vice chairman, Mercury Travels; Karan Anand, head – relationships & supplier management, Cox & Kings; Deepak Rawat, senior VP- international markets at MakeMyTrip.com; Siddharth Dabhade, head of travel business, Google India and S D Nandakumar, head – business development and special interest tours – Kuoni India.
Kakkar forecasted that Asia is going to become the crucible of world travel. “Domestic travellers are starting to transform into international travellers. GITs are becoming FITs and once a traveller becomes an FIT, he cannot go back to a being a GIT.” He added that Indians are family oriented and food is an important part of travel. “Indian travel to UK is mostly London centric at present, so VisitBritain needs to make consumers aware. Great Britain has a lot to offer so this needs to be communicated and converted,” he informed. He also advised the NTO and the suppliers to create itineraries around sports like football and cricket, auctions and festivals, the Beatles and Liverpool and culinary experiences as more and more Indians are showing interest in such products.
Anand pointed out that the outbound travel from India is only a two decade old market due to forex constraints. “Demonetisation is going to consolidate business in the organised segment. In India travel is usually centred around the school holidays. The group market will always exist due to three reasons: Security, language and food. Though this segment has evolved, it continues to be stable. The devalued pound sterling vis a vis the Indian rupee means more Indian overnights in Great Britain,” he said.
Rawat opined, “Digital is the way forward. There will be 730 million internet users by 2020, fuelled by 3X growth in smartphone users.” Dabhade agreed, “India has become an internet media country. Time spent on internet and mobile today is even higher than time spent on watching TV. Nearly 55 per cent of searches on Google are for accommodations. Great Britain is one of the top three travel destinations most searched on Google. Lot of travel searches are being done on You Tube as videos are a good communication tool and also create a strong imagery for your brand.. Non English language websites are also a good medium to reach out to travellers in Tier II and III cities.”
Nandakumar said that for driving MICE to UK, visa facilitation is a very important factor. Food is also crucial. He pointed out, “We Indians are a difficult demanding people. When in Rome, do what the Indians do! So on SOTC tours, Indian food is a given. We research not just for Indian restaurants in a destination but also chefs who can prepare Indian cuisine.”
For British suppliers who attended, there were a lot of takeaways from the discussion. Anand’s tip was, “Don’t try to reinvent the wheel. Terms and conditions must be specifically laid out.” Kakkar cautioned, “It is much easier to make relationships in India, but everyone must be ready to invest in the relationship. A combination of Emotional Quotient (EQ) and Intelligence Quotient (IQ) will work.” He added, “Indians look for value for money (read unique experiences that give them bragging rights on Social Media), are family oriented and look for some vegetarian options available 24×7. London will always remain the shaft of the arrowhead for travel to Great Britain, but some products like the Scotch Whiskey trail is still the most undersold product in India, considering that more Indians drink Scotch whiskey than the people in Scotland itself!” Speaking of conversions, Rawat added that content is very critical for suppliers. “Especially information that is Indianised. What works for south India may not work for north India,” he stated. Anand said that conversions is a universal problem. So his advice was “Find the right partner and build a story.” Kakkar reiterated, that the stakeholders need to tweak the products lightly for the Indian customer. “Tweak the pricing and strengthen the lean or shoulder periods and distribute to all,” he explained. Anand agreed by saying, “Be an inclusion, not an optional.” Ramanathan welcomed the suggestions and said that, “VisitBritain would like to customise the destination for travel agencies in India.”