As India’s outbound luxury segment matures from aspiration to articulation, destination marketing is shifting towards deeper trade education and sharper positioning. Atout France’s first-ever France Excellence showcase in Mumbai signals a focused move to engage Indian luxury buyers through structured dialogue, insight-led interaction and curated business matchmaking.
“India is evolving as is our strategy for the market over the last few years… In the post-Covid era, we find more discerning travellers seeking authenticity and out-of-the-ordinary experiences,” said Sheetal Munshaw, Director, Atout France India.
Atout France organised the inaugural France Excellence from 11–13 November in Mumbai, bringing together 13 French luxury travel stakeholders and 50 Indian travel trade professionals. Over two days of pre-scheduled B2B meetings, more than 600 interactions took place, enabling buyers and exhibitors to explore partnerships and business opportunities across France’s high-end travel ecosystem.
The delegation represented the breadth of France’s luxury offering, reinforcing the destination’s intent to deepen engagement with India’s premium outbound market through targeted trade platforms.
Understanding the Indian luxury traveller
The showcase opened with a market briefing on India’s luxury travel landscape, focusing on evolving traveller profiles and consumption trends. The session featured insights from Salil Deshpande, Head of Editorial Content, Condé Nast Traveller India, alongside Sheetal Munshaw, offering a cultural and behavioural lens into India’s affluent traveller segments.
Conversations beyond meetings
An opening dinner at The Pavilion by Quorum hosted a luxury panel titled Decoding Luxe à l’Indienne, with perspectives from Anurag Tyagi (Christian Dior Couture), Almona Bhatia (Tata Cliq), Simon de Beauregard (Pernod Ricard India) and Sridhar Keppurengan (VISA). The evening blended industry dialogue with informal networking involving the French business community.
Beyond the meeting rooms at Jio Convention Centre, the programme included interactive ateliers centred on mixology and oenology, highlighting French savoir-faire through experiential formats. The showcase also featured a curated B2C media and influencer dinner pairing Indian cuisine with French wines.
Building long-term luxury synergies
Atout France indicated that France Excellence is part of a longer-term strategy to familiarise French stakeholders with the nuances of Indian luxury consumption and prepare the ecosystem to better serve Indian travellers seeking authenticity, craft and cultural depth.
Rahul Bhadana is a digital editor at TravTalk with experience spanning multiple content niches, with a strong focus on travel trade journalism and digital publishing. A graduate of Delhi University, his work covers editorial writing, content strategy and platform-led storytelling, supporting TravTalk’s digital growth and industry engagement. A technology enthusiast, he enjoys films, poetry and exploring new ideas across media and culture.
