 Mumbai : In a bid to increase visibility of Germany in India, the German National Tourist Office (GNTO) will work closely with select tour operators in India like Cox & Kings, Thomas Cook, Kuoni India, Orbitz, Mercury and Yatra.com to launch joint promotional activities by next month.
GNTO is aiming to target family, honeymooner, FIT, group travellers and MICE through the promotions. The Board last month concluded its first phase of `India Pool' - an annual sales activity in Ahmedabad and Mumbai. The Board will organise similar sales activities in Chennai, Delhi (August) and Bengaluru (October) this year. GNTO together with its partners of the Indian pool will invest 1.5 million Euros over the next three to five years, in marketing Germany in India.
The GNTB India Pool includes federal states - Bavaria, Saxony, the cities- Berlin, Cologne, Frankfurt, Munich, Stuttgart, and the association of Magic Cities which comprise of Berlin, Cologne, Dresden, DÂsseldorf, Frankfurt, Hamburg, Hanover, Leipzig, Munich and Stuttgart, three German airports- Fraport (Frankfurt Airport), Munich Airport and Berlin Airport and the Germany-based incoming operator Alpha Travel Consultants.
Romit Theophilus, Director, Marketing and Sales Office (India) GNTO said, "Last year, through India Pool, we were able to interact directly with the travel trade and got an overview of the shortcomings faced by them in promoting Germany in their respective markets and regions. Thus, this year we decided to launch joint promotions and campaigns with select Indian operators for every region and segment. This way, we will be able to target corporate and leisure travellers through specialised operators of that segment. This will help in enhancing the destination presence in the Indian market along with increasing Indian footfalls in Germany."
Elaborating on the Indian market, Theophilus said, "Currently, we receive about 52 per cent business travellers and 48 per cent leisure travellers from India. We want to increase the share of leisure market for which we are trying to understand the requirements of the market. Currently there are no ready products or packages for FIT leisure travellers, but soon we will come out with packages through our travel trade partners."
According to Horst Lommatzsch, Director - Destination Management Asia, GNTO; UK is rated as the top destination as far as India outbound is concerned, wherein Germany is placed at the second position. He said, "In 2008, we recorded a growth of 32 per cent from the Indian market compared to 2007. But due to economic slowdown, we received 21,900 overnights from India in 2009, a decline of six per cent as compared to 2008. But now, with markets recovering, we aim to receive 7, 50,000 room nights from India till 2015. This is only possible through the support from our travel trade partners and our constant interaction with them."
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