TravTalk India Online Magazine
Decision makers from leading hotel chains talk about how incentive travel will take shape in the post-pandemic era. A uniform policy for vaccinated travellers must prevail, they say, sharing their optimistic view of business in the future.
Ritika Gupta, Vice President Market, North & West India, IHCL
We believe that as the vaccination level starts increasing exponentially around the world, travel will come back into its own. The need for human connection is very high. Incentive travel is a shared and joint experience to learn, discover and rejuvenate. The key point which will make a difference is the uniform policy adopted across the world on vaccination and vaccination-related travel. Governments should ease the infrastructure around the process.
Rohit Chopra, Regional Director of Sales – India Accor
We have received good number of queries; groups will very soon start travelling outbound. It depends on which country or NTO invites Indians with open arms. Government is taking a lot of efforts to make things better. More relaxed travel norms will lead to more travel. Everyone shall get their share as we approach Q1 2022, but domestic will kick-start first as international borders will open slowly. Queries for international travel are expected to increase by December.
Ananya Sinha, Director Commercial – South West Asia, IHG
Incentive travel is selling experiences. In the last couple of months, brand India has taken a huge hit amongst the foreign markets. So, going forward, to turn things around, we need to change the perception of the country in the minds of foreign travellers. Good things have happened and that needs to be spoken about. The trend of competing will become more aggressive because countries are desperate to revive tourism. If we need to compete, we need to open soon.
Dhananjay Saliankar, Head Sales & Marketing – India Fortune Hotels & WelcomHeritage
What I see in the future is that companies not making major profits will look at cutting costs and hence they will take a hybrid approach to doing events. Companies are now used to technology, so we might see hybrid events becoming more popular. IT companies have done well, so incentive travel-wise, they will be very eager to travel. Domestic travel will move faster as international travel for M!CE will still take another year to pick pace.
Inputs by TT Bureau
