TravTalk India Online Magazine
Madhya Pradesh Travel Mart, in its fourth edition, provided a platform to buyers that went well beyond wildlife. The state is now looking to attract more travellers with innovative concepts and comprehensive packages.
TRIPTI MEHTA
Shoba Mohan, Founder Partner, RARE India
This is our third year at Madhya Pradesh Travel Mart and it has been quite good. MPTM has progressively been getting better and better. Rare India addresses the needs of a very niche audience and so, it is imperative for us to have quality buyers come in. The mix of domestic and inbound that they have put together is quite interesting. We take Bhopal as the focal point for people wanting to access the wildlife scene of central India. There is a lot of potential for growth in the inbound circle as well and Madhya Pradesh Tourism is one of the pioneers in doing some path-breaking work.
Karunesh Tiwari, Business Development and Revenue Manager, Brilliant Convention Centre, Indore
Brilliant Convention Centre is a state-of-the-art MICE facility in Indore. The USP of the property is the Grand Hall which is a pillarless ballroom spread across an area of about 22,500 sq ft. The only event that we participate in is Madhya Pradesh Travel Mart, as we are able to network with relevant buyers. We received a number of queries from international clients as well but our major client share still remains domestic. Madhya Pradesh Tourism has marketed MPTM very well. Its presence can be felt across the city of Bhopal with a number of advertisements being displayed.
Raajan Anand, General Manager – Sales and Marketing, Infinity Resorts
Infinity Resorts has been participating in Madhya Pradesh Travel Mart since its inception. The mart has only been progressing and growing in scale since then. Being present at MPTM has been good for us because we have been getting buyers from across territories to promote central India. In my opinion, it is a very good initiative of the Government of Madhya Pradesh, which has actively been promoting tourism to the state. For a seller to promote his/her product, it is crucial that the target audience be relevant. Though there have been a good number of buyers this year, we do hope that the next year brings along more relevant buyers to the mart.
Sunil Choudhary, Director, Go India Tourism
MPTM is quite beneficial in learning about new destinations, visiting new properties and understanding what tourism products the state has to offer. There are plenty of wildlife tourism opportunities available here, something that the state is already quite famous for. MICE, on the other hand, is also fast gaining ground. Khajuraho is one sector which is quite famous among international tourists. A number of international travellers who arrive in Delhi like to travel further to Khajuraho. The best part about MPTM is the Fam trips they organise where we get a chance to explore and understand the state even more.
Ravi S. Kalra, Managing Director, Travel Inn
MPTM is an excellent platform to meet stakeholders and see their products. You start getting new ideas and get to know about new destinations. For sellers, the number of buyers this year was slightly limited. Also, the buyers and products are not focused, something that MPTM must look to include the next year. For Madhya Pradesh, wildlife is the most popular product, though they also have cultural products. Most of the buyers at the mart aren’t really hardcore wildlife buyers. So, MPTM should probably look at the profile of the buyers for future marts so that they can give more focus to the mart.
Manish Mehra, Director, Excel Network
MPTM is an eye-opener for me to meet so many hoteliers and other sellers, and see what new products I can incorporate into the existing packages. Excel Tours is an inbound company. Wildlife is a big part of tourism in the state of Madhya Pradesh and I am learning more and more about it. Till now I had only been focusing on sending my clients to the cultural hubs of Khajuraho and Orchha, but now there is so much more than I can provide to my clients who wish to travel to the state. This is definitely going to help me design more comprehensive packages.
