About India Outbound Magazine

India Outbound, a bi-monthly print magazine with dynamic web and social media presence focused on outbound travel from India, is published by Media India Group. Distributed all over India, and in all the top tourism events across the world, India Outbound caters mainly to the tourism professionals and is looking to develop new and innovative circuits and promote new destinations to the high-end travellers.

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ITB Asia 2019 exceeds past year’s performance

ITB Asia came to a close on October 18 at the Sands Expo and Convention Centre, Marina Bay Sands in Singapore, having attracted a record number of 13,000 attendees from 132 countries and territories. The show saw strong participation this year with over 1,300 exhibitors and more than 1,250 buyers. The three-day exhibition also saw more than 27,000 business appointments made, a 7.4 pc year-on-year growth.

In its twelfth year running, this year’s conference programme brought together leaders from across the MICE, leisure, corporate, and travel tech sectors to explore how businesses can turn creative ideas into bold, yet practical, initiatives to keep pace with technological developments in the travel industry. Across the three days of the conference, attendees were able to hear from more than 270 speakers, including Booking.com, Expedia, IBM, OYO China, TripAdvisor, Tujia and more. For the first time, attendees also got a chance to gain detailed understanding of some of the most important practices and trends that are defining the future of MICE events at ITB Asia’s inaugural MICE show Asia. With a turnout that exceeded expectations, the successful debut gives grounds for optimism for the future expansion of this dedicated marketplace.

Christian Göke, chief executive officer, Messe Berlin said, “After 12 years, ITB Asia experienced strong growth again. This new record clearly demonstrates that the show is well accepted by the industry around the world as the must-attend event in Asia. Messe Berlin is delighted to continue the strategic partnership with Marina Bay Sands and the Singapore Tourism Board (STB) from 2020 to 2022.”

BBIN Tourism Forum to promote sub-regional tourism

As there exists almost a common culture and similar kind of nature amongst the south-east Asian countries specially – Bangladesh, Bhutan, India and Nepal (BBIN), there is a huge potential for tourism development on a common platform. Therefore, a common platform named BBIN Tourism Forum has been formed on September 28, 2019 as a sideline event of 8th Asian Tourism Fair.

The main objective of the forum is to promote sub-regional tourism and help other countries for tourism development on behalf of private sector initiative and also help the government in implementing the bilateral agreement on tourism as well as tourism promotion in the BBIN region.

BBIN Tourism Forum will function as an apex body in south-east Asia for promoting tourism in this region - cross-border tourism, riverine tourism, Buddhist heritage tourism etc - and also exchange of cultural resources for sustainable development.

BBIN Tourism Forum will also work as nucleus for coordination and push forward the agenda of sub-regional tourism development programmes of the governments.

A 15 member’s ad-hoc committee has been formed with Raj Basu (founder, Help Tourism India) as the chairman and Mohiuddin Helal (chairman, ATF and chairman, Dhaka Dinner Cruise, Bangladesh) as secretary-general. The inaugural meeting of the BBIN Tourism Forum was moderated by member of the ad-hoc committee, June Mukherjee, head of India Outbound magazine and communications director of Media India Group.

Within the next six months, chapter committee of BBIN Tourism Forum will be formed in each country. BBIN Tourism Forum ad-hoc committee will help in forming these, activate and monitor all the chapter committees of BBIN.

Sochi Tourism promotes destination for MICE and wedding

Sochi, a Russian city set across the Black Sea, is an unexplored city by the Indian tourists. A perfect getaway for fun lovers and adventure enthusiasts, it offers a plethora of adventure sports and a classy nightlife, besides picturesque beaches and mountains. LinkIn Reps, a travel PR Agency, along with Dolores Travel group organised a destination presentation that not only introduced Sochi as a destination for beach and adventure tourism for the first time in India, but also the business opportunities for the Indian travel fraternity.

Speaking to India Outbound, Amit Mathur, the representative of Dolores group in India said, “One of the unique points about Sochi is that it is not just about beaches, it is also about snow. You can have the experience of snow just 45 minutes from the beach. Sochi is like a hidden gem. It even houses the tallest and longest sky bridge besides being a very good destination for MICE and Indian weddings.”

“A direct flight from Delhi to Sochi is pipelined for next year. We are also planning of extensive B2B fams, great media exposure, and immense product training for travel agents. I think any travel destination cannot do well without the travel agents actually experiencing the destination,” added Komal Seth, the director and founder of LinkIN Reps.

WTM London 2019 to reveal latest global travel research

The most current and thought-provoking research into global and regional travel trends will be revealed over all three days at WTM London 2019.

Research sessions commence in the WTM International Media Centre with ForwardKeys’ research into the UK inbound market. ForwardKeys, which analyses 17 million flights a day, will review the top 50 UK inbound flights, comparing them to last five years. World Tourism Cities Federation (WTCF) will present a session looking at China’s economic growth, which has created a brand new group of travellers. The session entitled, Booming Chinese Outbound Market, will have a panel of experts looking to discuss the aims at better understanding the Chinese traveller by sharing experiences and expertise from different angles.

Euromonitor International will present a session entitled Megatrends Shaping the Future of Travel. Attendees will discover the latest developments for global travel and tourism performance. This session will give insights into upcoming trends in Europe, Asia, the Americas and the Middle East and Africa. The key focus is on major drivers, consumer behaviour and attitudes that are affecting travel companies’ bottom line. The research will prepare participants with the important knowledge to navigate the year ahead.

A session which looks specifically at research around Sustainability in Tourism, conducted by MMGY and Destination International will provide insight into what companies are doing responsibly, how they are measuring the impact and what they hope to do moving forward.

Julia Newbound, WTM portfolio press & PR lead, said, “We have a mix of global research alongside dedicated country-focused sessions in our regional Inspiration Zones. These sessions will offer delegates even more ideas to implement in their businesses, further demonstrating that Ideas Arrive at WTM London.”

Jordan Tourism organises multi-city seminars and roadshows in India

The Jordan Tourism Board recently conducted multi-city seminars and roadshows in Kochi, Ahmedabad, Chennai, Hyderabad, Delhi, Bangalore and Mumbai with three partners- Emilio Travel, Hajjat Tours and Travels & Friends Tours to strengthen relationships with the travel agents and tour operators to boost Indian arrivals to Jordan.

The roadshows and seminars invited key agents from the cities to enhance networking and relationship building in the Indian market. The aim of the seminars and roadshows was to educate the trade partners from different regions and discuss the business model for 2019-2020. JTB showcased the attractions and offerings for Leisure and MICE under various categories like history and culture, adventure, wellness and eco-tourism as an Indian family friendly destination to promote it to their focused market.

Abed Al Razzaq Issam Arabiyat, managing director, Jordan Tourism Board said, “India is an emerging market with a huge population and a growing economy, especially in the IT sector, which caters for the potential in the Indian market for MICE tourism, faith tourism, weddings, and movie production. Jordan's tourism revenue increased by 9.2 pc compared to the same period of 2018. The tourism revenue reached USD 3.95 billion within the first eight months of 2019. These roadshows and seminars offer a fantastic opportunity for the travel agent and tour operator community to connect directly with JTB and its stakeholders to help them drive more business and numbers towards the destination.”

Istanbul and Antalya emerge as key MICE destination for Indian corporate

The Turkish Tourism Board in India recently announced that the number of MICE groups travelling to Turkey from India has been steadily increasing. The numbers that have emerged so far from January to October prove that more and more Indian companies, business houses & corporates are looking at Turkey for MICE travel.

Istanbul and Antalya have emerged as key cities in terms of MICE movements in India. In September, Indian company Havells took a MICE group of 600 people to Istanbul, which is being followed by Herbal life in October for a group of 1500 people. Antalya has already confirmed for another MICE group of 450 people from India in November. Besides that Istanbul will be the host city for 1,800 people from Amway India in December.

The tourism board in India has been receiving many enquiries from DMC’s and corporates alike for large MICE group travel to Istanbul and Antalya.

Turkey has always been a popular destination amongst Indian travellers. In last few years, the country has emerged as a key destination for MICE travel. The Turkish Tourism board is now actively promoting Istanbul and Antalya as MICE destination and is hosting regular meetings with corporate houses and MICE agents.

Visit Brussels organises Brussels Tourism Mission in India

Visit Brussels recently organised a Brussels Tourism Mission in India and interacted with over 200 trade and media partners from the travel fraternity. The two-city event covered Mumbai on October 9 and Delhi on October 11, 2019 respectively.

The mission was led by Pieter Callebaut, business development leisure, visit.brussels, and Ellona Pereira, account director, visit.brussels – India with a clear mandate of ensuring that the travel trade should experience the rich hospitality that not just this European Capital has to offer but Belgium as a whole destination. The week-long visit to Mumbai and New Delhi were packed with meetings with travel agents in both cities, training program for front line travel staff selling Brussels as a destination but most importantly the day event in Mumbai highlighted Belgium gastronomy, wherein participants were offered a spread of Belgian delights from waffles to beers to fries to an interactive chocolate making workshop.

The Ambassador of Belgium to India HE François Delhaye hosted a “networking cocktails and dinner” for select travel trade partners at his residence in Delhi while the consul general of the Kingdom of Belgium, Pierre-Emmanuel Brusselmans was present at the Mumbai event.

“Brussels is growing to become an important “go-to” destination in all the European itineraries. In the year 2018, 28, 756 Indians visited Brussels and there was a growth of 22 pc in arrivals from India as compared to year 2017. Also in the same period, a significant rise of 30 pc in the number of nights spent in Brussels by Indians has been observed,” said Callebaut.

Taiwan Tourism Bureau turns one in Mumbai

The Taiwan Tourism Bureau (TTB) celebrated its one-year anniversary in India with a Taiwan roadshow in Mumbai on October 16. A diverse programme had been lined up for the celebrations held at St Regis Mumbai. Along with a speech by Trust Lin, TTB director of India, New Zealand, Australia, Singapore and the Middle East, there were presentations by key airline and hospitality partners with a look at TTB’s activities in India in 2018.

Also taking place in October is the Smart Asia – Expo & Summit 2019. Smart City solutions and smart technology applications are the focus of the event which runs from October 17-19, organised for the first time in Mumbai by the Taiwan External Trade Development Council (TAITRA), in association with Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce & Industry (FICCI). The expo was inaugurated by Ambassador Chung-kwan Tien, Representative, Taipei Economic and Cultural Center in India.

The expo showcases solutions from some of the brightest players in Taiwan as well as addresses areas such as urban city planning, IoT solutions, smart energy, smart transportation, smart water management, environmental sustainability and future smart cities development in India.

Smart Asia 2019 also features ‘Taiwan Excellence’ and ‘COMPUTEX’ pavilions, exhibiting Taiwan’s diversified award-winning and AI-incorporated smart solutions for their Indian counterparts.

Emilia Shih, executive director, exhibition department of TAITRA said, “We believe that Smart Asia 2019, with its primary focus on smart energy, transportation and water management, is bound to make a lasting change in the region. Furthermore, with the long standing productive partnership between India and Taiwan, we are convinced that Smart Asia is able to cater to the ever evolving business needs of India with a mutually beneficial economic growth.”

NYC & company announces global marketing campaign

As New York City looks to welcome a record 13.9 million international visitors in 2019, this week NYC & Company kicked off its most expansive global tourism marketing campaign to date. The refreshed “Famous Original New York City” initiative is valued at approximately USD 20 million and will reach 22 global markets. This promotional effort reinforces New York City’s welcoming spirit with the iconic Statue of Liberty depicted in original in-house creative that has a distinct and diversified new look and feel. NYC & Company will also soon launch a more personalised experience on NYCGO.com.

“Starring the iconic and emblematic Statue of Liberty, this campaign unequivocally reminds international travellers that New York City welcomes them always,” said NYC & Company president and CEO Fred Dixon. “As we round out what is set to be another record-breaking year for tourism, we invite visitors from around the globe to discover their own Famous Original New York City.”

NYC & Company has partnered with tour operators and airlines to offer packages and flight-only deals driving visitation in the first quarter of 2020.

“We are pleased to launch the latest and largest instalment of our ‘Famous Original’ global tourism campaign to inspire visitors to choose NYC now for their next holiday,” said NYC & Company chief marketing officer Nancy Mammana. “This latest iteration not only features engagement with a multitude of travel trade partners, but also an enhanced and more personalised digital experience for visitors planning their next visit to The Bronx, Brooklyn, Manhattan, Queens and Staten Island.”

Qatar wins bid to host World Symposium of Choral Music in 2023

Following a successful bid by Qatar National Choral Association, supported by Qatar National Tourism Council (QNTC), Qatar has won the rights to host the World Symposium of Choral Music (WSCM) in 2023. Held once every three years, the International Federation of Choral Music’s (IFCM) flagship event is considered the most prestigious non-competitive choral event and will attract 2,000-4,000 international delegates to the country, reinforcing its position as a hub for cultural events.

HE Akbar Al Baker, secretary-general of QNTC and Qatar Airways Group chief executive, commented, “We are delighted to add the World Choral Symposium to the growing list of events coming to Qatar, and are thrilled to be able to showcase our own traditions and cultural offerings. We continue to work towards attracting large-scale events in the MICE space, as we continue to diversify and grow our tourism industry.”

In a statement the IFCM said, “The international choral community through the IFCM congratulates Qatar on their winning bid and wishes them every success and support in their preparations for this unique event in 2023. We are looking forward to an exciting exploration of the musical treasures of the Middle East and Central Asia. The Symposium in Qatar provides IFCM and the hosts with the opportunity to create a new network and enhance exchange and cooperation within and beyond this area.”

The WSCM brings the finest choirs, conductors, presenters, composers, and choristers from around the globe together to share in a celebration of fine choral singing.

India Outbound is a publication of Media India Group