Erco to add new products

Ravi Gosain, Managing Director, Erco Travels & Tourism Enterprises, believes in nurturing his existing foreign tour operator partners by offering them new circuits and activities.

TT Bureau

The inbound business of both Erco Travels & Tourism Enterprises has been stable in the last one year as they ventured into different segments and expanded their business to varied geographical regions. Underlining the importance of inbound market for the Indian travel and tourism industry, Ravi Gosain, Managing Director, Erco Travels and Tourism Enterprises said, “Inbound market to India is not taking a desired take off despite an overall increase in visa numbers as per the Ministry of Tourism. This is due to spike in the number of business travellers as per my observation. Tourism industry feels otherwise because it is more dependent on leisure travellers which will ultimately increase business for them. Going forward, we will focus more on experiential holidays in India to attract more business,” he said.

Talking about his plans for 2019, Gosain said, “We will continue to participate at major international tourism fairs, networking events, social media promotions and door to door marketing. At a moment when the world is waiting for a new government in India, continuity of the present government at the centre will give the country a sense of safety and confidence in FTOs to send tourists to India. I believe that India will continue to surge as one of the most exotic destinations rich in culture, traditions, festivals, rituals and a haven for food.”

Gosain expresses concern over the quality of foreign buyers at GITB in Jaipur. “The concept of GITB for promoting inbound tourism is a great step. Erco Travels has actively exhibited in earlier editions but it no longer does because the quality of foreign buyers has deteriorated. What I observe now is either the junior staff or non-decision makers are visiting GITB as buyers. I am sure that the current exhibitors are sharing their experiences with organisers of the show for the quality to improve in order to provide value to sellers. Overall, GITB is a good platform for both buyers and sellers with fixed meeting schedules,” he said.

According to Gosain, his DMC representation brand, Tourism Enterprises, which markets and represents some foreign DMC brands in India, is growing day by day. “We have recently appointed a senior marketing staff based in Mumbai to spearhead Tourism Enterprises’ products in Western India. We are covering most of India with a strong presence in North, Central, East and West India. We continue to bring new destinations to Indian tour operator and educate them about various products which can be of great interest to Indian tourists. We are also working on plans to offer exciting products for the middle-aged generation which are different from the usual tourist programmes. This will be done in co-operation with our existing DMC partners overseas,” he concluded.