TravTalk India Online Magazine
VisitHouston recently held a roadshow at Le Meridien, New Delhi. Jorge Franz, Senior VP—Tourism, VisitHouston, talks about the myriad products Houston has on offer.
Simranjeet Singh Arora
As the fourth largest city in the United States, Houston has a variety of unique attractions to offer to the Indian market. Jorge Franz, Senior Vice President — Tourism, VisitHouston, elaborated “Houston is a strong business city. As the capital of energy and gas sector, it has 3,500 companies where the whole world deals in. It also has the largest medical centre in the world which attracts more than seven million patients in a year from around the globe. Home to America’s space programme, space centre here is the biggest attraction of all.”
Talking about initiating direct flights between India and Houston, Franz mentioned, “Although we have connecting flights from India via Dubai, Qatar, Istanbul, a direct flight between India and Houston is much desirable.”
On VisitHouston’s increasing interests to capture the Indian market, Franz said, “The Indian market has become the fifth largest international market for Houston. Last year, we received over 60,000 visitors with an economic impact of about $122 million. We, therefore, are keenly interested in the Indian market, as we have everything they are looking for from the vacation.”
About 150,000 Indo-Americans reside in Houston and the city exactly knows what to offer to Indians. An itinerary was well explained by Franz where he said,” I would recommend a stay of at least four nights, so that one can begin with space centre and then move on with Kemah Boardwalk — a sea-side community. Another major attraction is the graffiti park.”
US visas have always been a barrier restricting Indians to travel to the country. Upon discussion, Franz supported by saying, “We are well-versed with the problems Indians face while getting visa for the United States. We are constantly working to ease out the visa process for Indians.”
