TravTalk India Online Magazine
When it comes to welcoming international tourists in contempory world affected by the pandemic, all sectors, including government, hotels, transport and tour operators, have to work in tandem to make sure a loud and clear message went out all over world about Incredible India from all channels.
Nisha Verma
A session titled ‘Preparedness under the New Normal’ at the recent IATO Annual Convention SanJeet, Director, DDP Publications, moderated the session, and the panellists were Rupinder Brar, Additional Director General, Ministry of Tourism; Parveen Chander Kumar, Senior Vice President-S&M, IHCL and Harish Mathur, Executive Committee Member, IATO.
Planning for preparedness
Starting the discussion, SanJeet said that due to COVID-19, a lot has changed in the tourism industry, including business models. Brar said that the government was taking “many steps” for the tourists keeping in view the pandemic. Kumar added he was planning on collaborating with all three partners — government, hotels and IATO — and other sectors of the tourism industry to instil trust among the tourists.
Giving the perspective of tour operators, Mathur said that after COVID-19, they went through a tsunami of emotions. “It started with denial, which led to depression for many. However, MOT has done its best in trying to revive us. There was ample opportunity to relook at all our strategies. ‘Dekho Apna Desh’ was a learning process. We need to regroup, re-strategise and relook.” Building confidence
Speaking about international travel, SanJeet asked Brar regarding confidence-building measures by MOT. Brar said, “We know travel is going to restart, and we are trying to develop a campaign. We discussed the messaging with some stakeholders. The content is ready and it has been previewed by some stakeholders.”
She revealed that the messaging was going to be both direct and indirect. “Through discussions, we decided that the campaign should not only be safety-based but also theme-based. Our content will come subtly. We will inform the travellers that Indians have been vaccinated. The other message will be that our hotels, cabs, airports and tour operators are ready to welcome tourists.”
She said the campaign was ready and the discussions with the channels were done. “We are only waiting to decide the right day for the launch,” she added. The campaign was to be launched on January 1, 2022, but now it has been delayed. Brar said there is a need for a large B2B event.
Get ready hotels
When asked about the steps being taken to get the tourists back, Kumar shared that the first step was to create the right infrastructure. “We made sure all the safety protocols were in place, including all the backend work. Right from the vaccination of our employees to the safety protocol and contactless technology, everything was done in the first year. The second step is to communicate with your target audience that you are ready and safe. For this, we have curated some campaigns for the market. First, we came up with a homecoming offer in November for the Indian diaspora, who may bring in others. The next step was to make an itinerary-based offer, which will probably begin by March,” he said.
However, Kumar felt that India has its own niche. “Our team is in touch with all our key operators in international markets. However, post-COVID, we need to reconnect with people. We are planning to launch our campaign, and we have had outreach programmes going on for the last six months. We also had bookings from March to April. Unfortunately, there were cancellations owing to Omicron. However, things are not that bad,” he said.
Readiness to welcome
How ready are tour operators to welcome international travellers, and are they also working towards confidence-building? In reply, Mathur said, “We have survived and have been forced to look and relook at our markets. Those looking at Germany, the US or France earlier are now looking at the Middle East, Japan, Russia and Ukraine. In fact, all the big, middle and small tour operators are in the same boat and need to relook at the business from a new starting point. Also, IATO is helping them by generating activity reports in terms of news and filtering relevant news. We need support by MOT, airlines and hoteliers,” he said. Mathur claimed that all tour operators were ready and knew what they needed to do. “I can guarantee that they have their planned marketing campaign ready.”
Strategy ahead
SanJeet claimed that to attract tourists apart from NRIs, there must be strategies in place. Brar said, “Apart from social media, a dialogue between all three segments — the government, hotels and tour operators — is crucial. We are also planning roadshows, and we hope that in the first quarter, a good roadshow will be coming up. We will need to work with tour operators more closely to create roadshows and go back to all the travel marts in an aggressive manner.”
Synergy is needed
SanJeet said that when government is taking so many initiatives and spending money, then the private sector and tour operators can join hands in promotions with a call to action and contacts mentioned in every communication.
Although IHCL is already working with the MOT on this, Kumar said, “All the partners, including airlines, can work together and unleash the potential. In fact, we used ‘Dekho Apna Desh’ as a campaign and generated huge traction, leading to conversion. When tourism begins, some factors will attract international tourists: value-driven tourism; key themes like nature, history, yoga and health; and young people who are fearless in their travels.”
Brar said that the government is working with private players and putting a lot of private content on the site. “We are also working with the heritage association. We would be happy to work with the trade. I am nothing without trade, and tourism is all about it,” she claimed.
When asked about what the tour operators are looking at, Mathur said, “We are holding hands with the government. Also, we are re-strategising ourselves and looking at new ideas, markets, developments, and themes.”
Brar added, “We must use this opportunity to come out of our comfort zones and stop selling and reselling the same few things, since we have invested a lot in large infrastructure. Many other destinations have opened up in terms of air travel and highways, among others.”
For his part, Kumar suggested, “The MOT website can help to host all the experiences and, towards the end, give a list of hotels, travel tour operators and airlines for people to choose. It will be a game changer,” he said.
A collaborative future
Kumar, on working together with the tour operators Kumar talked about the special promo code they announced for IATO members. “This shows that this is a long-term relationship that needs to be nurtured. Regarding cancellation policies and other things, the way we have been doing work in the past will be changed. We will have to look at different policies for groups and individuals.”
Mathur said that with everyone working together, the future looks bright. Kumar added, “We should continue working together and keep reinventing ourselves.”
Brar said the future is bright and lies in three things: Product, process and promotion. “Hence, join hands and make sure that Incredible India is more incredible.”
