Travel trade trains its eyes Down Under

The India Travel Mission (ITM), 2017 by Tourism Australia, held at JW Marriott Pune witnessed 110 agents from across India meet 84 suppliers over four days of meetings and networking. This year, being the fourth consecutive year of double-digit growth from India to Australia, shows the potential of the Indian market.

SHAZAD BAGWAN

Guldeep Singh Sahni, DDP Trailblazer and President, OTOAI

Having ITM in India is a very good system. It is not only the suppliers from Australia but people from across India come together and it is great networking. Getting information about what is happening in the market has become a necessity for a tour operator and this is a very good platform for promoting Australia. Over 4 days a buyer gets to meet 84 plus suppliers and learn about new products. Referring to the visa issues, there are some agents who have problems regarding visa while agents who are Aussie Specialist get the visa in 48 hours, so for them, Australia becomes a preferred destination to sell.

Shravan Bhalla, Chief Executive Officer, High Flyer

This is my eighth year at ITM and it has been growing every year. We look forward to it as new products and destinations are added each year. We specialise into destinations like Australia and New Zealand so Australia is a big sector for my company. We have been experiencing good growth, especially in the honeymoon segment, which will now be on the peak from October onwards. The honeymoon segment is always looking for good countries with unexplored cities for which Australia is a perfect destination. Demand for self-drive options in Australia is increasing along with a lot of adventure sports like hot air ballooning, Great Barrier Reef adventures, adventure quad biking. Besides sightseeing, beaches also remain a big attraction for tourists.

Pawan Kumar Gupta, Managing Director, Peekay Holidays

I have been attending ITM since 2002, making this my 14th visit. This year, being the 50th anniversary for Tourism Australia, the quality and number of sellers has been really good. The format of the travel mission has been very efficient and buyers are able to drive deep knowledge on how to sell Australia. Australia is a very nice market for the Indian travellers, given the ease of visa and immigration. They have made it very easy for agents and if you are an Aussie Specialist, they provide you with a login ID and password to issue the visa from your own office which no other tourism board provides.

Lokesh Chawla, Director, Xtra Mile Travel Services

ITM is of great help for us as it is one of the best platforms for travel agencies, serious on selling Australia. We have around 84 suppliers here and have got knowledge about the new products which will help us create different itineraries and offer different and unique experiences for Australia. The new attractions which have been in demand are self-drive trips, Sydney Bridge climb, Merlin Entertainments, Village Roadshow, etc. Focus has also been put on local cuisines. We have been dealing into the whole of Australia, including New South Wales, Queensland, Northern Territory and Victoria.

Tejas Joshi, Manager – MICE Contracting Outbound Travel, Cox & Kings Limited

We are happy to see the variety of sellers present this year at the ITM. It is good to see so many options to promote Australia. The abundance of unique experiences in Australia makes it especially attractive for tourists. Although the destination is still at mid-stage for MICE, the reason being cities like Sydney, which have a big inventory problem, whenever there are events happening, we face pricing and availability issues. If we see from Indian MICE perspective for 200-300 people, we find it a little bit difficult to find 150-200 rooms to be available at one place.

Ajit Sehgal, Managing Director, Shaurya Travels

This year we witnessed a good seller turnout compared to last year. There were plenty of new products added to ITM 2017 and I see tourism growing towards Australia. Credit goes to the Tourism Australia management who have been working hard to promote the destination. We have been promoting destinations right from Perth, South Australia, Queensland to Gold coast, Melbourne, Sydney and interiors of New South Wales, which are among the must-see destinations for travellers. We have been catering to mid-luxury segments of clients. The average stay of our Indian customers in Australia has been 10-12 nights.