‘Play virtual and win actual’

Speaking about the VisitBritain Cricket Carnival – Season 1, Shuja Mehdi, B2B Manager – India, VisitBritain, shares that this is the first time that it has launched a cricket-themed contest for travel agents across India, which would allow them to ‘play virtual and win actual’.

Nisha Verma

The focus is to use cricket for promoting the destination, says Shuja Mehdi, and adds, “The ongoing England-India series is a great opportunity for us to connect with the travel trade and to use that as a platform to engage with them. In partnership with TRAVTALK, we want to enrol travel agents into the contest and get them to play virtually. The second part of the campaign is engagement and education. Here, we will be introducing quizzes on a weekly basis and sharing them with the travel trade. Even those who are not taking part in the ongoing matches can still be a part of the quizzes, answer them and win exciting prizes. Engaging with the travel trade is a focal point of what we do in India”

The biggest appeal of the contest, according to him, is that it’s a fair competition.  He also believes that though cricket binds the two nations together, sports tourism, in general, is always very big, be it cricket, lawn tennis, football or any other sport. As the tournament progresses and Season 1 goes on, Mehdi expects an even better response from the travel trade. “We are also generating a database and even after the series is over, we will engage with those who had put up their teams during the contest, to understand how we could improve the subsequent season of the campaign when we launch it,” he informs.

Prizes to be won

“We have a whole bunch of prizes, from shopping vouchers to trips to the UK, which includes stay in hotels across Lake District as well as in other parts of North England. The grand prize is actually watching a live match in England. It will be two tickets to watch India vs England in the city of Manchester, in the hospitality lounge of the Old Trafford Cricket Ground, when India tours England in the summer,” says Mehdi. Winners of the third match have already been announced, and they had very good scores. The first winner will also enter the draw of the grand prize.

Gaurav Seth, Head of Trade Sales, India Outbound Merlin Entertainments Group

We, at Merlin Entertainments, are excited to partner with VisitBritain on this campaign and we will be giving two tickets to the winners for London Eye, the most iconic structure of London and two tickets to the Madame Tussauds Wax Museum, which is where it all started. It is one of the most historic wax museums around the world with over 250 wax figures inside it. These two are amongst the top things to do in London. Hence, we want the winner to at least experience this along with their partner.

Dan Whitehead, Senior Business Development Manager, Premium Ticketing and Corporate Accounts, LCC

With the India-England test match going on, it gives the audience a fantastic opportunity to build their fantasy team as part of the platform. The lucky winner of this contest will get a special hospitality package for one full day at the Century Lounge. The winner can enjoy a relaxed atmosphere and also enjoy the test match from an elevated balcony viewpoint or a reserved seat in the grand stand below. The official cricket hospitality packages are doing well.

Zuheb Hasan MZ, Founder, Travel Bee

I won the third test match, which is incredible. This is a great initiative and can be extended beyond sports with travel quizzes as well. I used to play cricket at the state level but had to discontinue. However, I know the game and hence I chose players I thought would perform better. I am excited about the grand prize and participating in all games. Right now, I am concentrating on the games and how all the players are performing so that I can select a better team.