Sports get Indians to the UK

The travel trade is beginning to realise that the Indian market has now sufficiently evolved. Many are now visiting the United Kingdom to see their favourite football and cricket team perform, or witness the greats at Wimbledon.

Tricia Warwick, APMEA Director, VisitBritain

Visitors from India have evolved to taking mono-country trips and spend more time on local experiences. As a result, we have launched a B2B platform called Tourism Exchange Great Britain (TXGB), to sell England’s tourism products and experiences to the trade. The platform enables distributors to connect with United Kingdom suppliers directly. We would like the trade to offer mono-Britain itineraries that include London, Birmingham, Manchester, Liverpool and Edinburgh, coupled with countryside breaks.

Vishal Bhatia, Country Manager – India, VisitBritain

We are working with partners like British Airways, Thomas Cook, MakeMyTrip, S0TC, and 0man Air among others in India, to promote regional destinations and to make it easier for visitors to book and explore more of Britain. As part of our strategy, we have been consistently showcasing regions beyond London, including Manchester, Liverpool and Lake District to the trade over the past years. Experiencing the products first-hand has inspired the trade to be far more confident about regions beyond London and push these products.

Sunil VA, Regional Vice President – ISC, Oman Air

Oman Air offers excellent double-daily connections to London and one connection a day to MAN (Manchester) from all 11 points we fly to in India. Further expansion plans will depend on approval of suitable slots. All our flights to UK have an excellent average seat factor of above 85 per cent and are our top performing flights in premium due to the deployment of our Dream- liner product. High volumes generated to the UK from the region are from leisure, MiCE and VFR, and is a combination of FIT and GIT traffic.

Tim Manley, Marketing Manager, Visit Manchester

Marketing Manchester’s recent activity in India centred on the Cricket World Cup hosted in summer 2019. We embarked on a travel trade roadshow last year in Mumbai, Delhi and Bengaluru, meeting over 300 travel trade delegates and training airline reservation staff. Indian visitors have shown eagerness to explore beyond London, and Manchester is the ideal place to explore regional England. In addition to this, Indian travellers can expect high-quality gin-making sessions, special brewery tours, and tasting Indian food at The Curry Mile.

Sanjay Arya, Chief Executive Officer, KFT Corporation

Travellers have now started to visit other regions with the onset of the English Premier League that showcases different places. We also suggest whisky trails and distillery visits. Some clients even want to stay in distilleries that offer accommodation. With the popularity of football, clients also want to go watch their teams play and see famous stadiums. The shopping and food experience in other cities like Manchester and Blackpool is the same as London. Lake District is also getting popular.

Vishal Suri, Managing Director, SOTC Travel

While London has always been one of the most preferred destinations among tourists, the new segments of travellers are looking at more unexplored gems of Northern England. Observing a rising demand for destinations like Manchester and Lake District, SOTC Travel has curated travel packages to include such destinations. As far as trends are concerned, we have noticed that vacationers are more open to experiences and flexible itineraries.

Deepak Rawat, SVP, International Markets, MakeMyTrip.com

Scenic destinations within the UK such as Cotswolds, the Lake District, and the Cornish Coast should all do well in the India market. For couples and families, self-drive packages will work well. This year, we saw people plan UK trips around the Cricket World Cup and Wimbledon. I also see things like golfing tours and whisky trails being of increasing interest. In addition, itineraries that are able to offer a good mix of history and culture (which Britain is synonymous with) and natural beauty would attract families.

Shuja Bin Mehdi, B2B Manager, India, VisitBritain

We have maintained focus on B2B and partnerships to develop and distribute mono-Britain products to achieve seasonal and regional spread targets. Our trade engagement has focused on itineraries promoting North of England with Manchester, in addition to Liverpool, Birmingham, Lake District and York that have seen an increase in demand from Indian visitors. We are witnessing an increase in customised itineraries from the Indian traveller that are experiential in nature, coupled with an interest in the local cuisine.

-Inputs by Hazel Jain