Aussie state steps up marketing in India

TOURISM Victoria is growing its presence in India with above-the-line and below-the-line marketing, citing the uniqueness of the market.

This month, Victoria’s minister for small businesses and tourism will lead a delegation of more than 60 companies to meet their Indian counterparts.

The state is also working with Thomas Cook, Kuoni and Tiger Sports Marketing to promote the Presidents Cup golf tournament, which will take place in Melbourne in November.

Tourism Victoria representative, India, Beena Menon said: “Golfing is popular among the Indians. We want to promote Melbourne as a lifestyle destination to the market.”

Tourism Victoria business development manager South and South-east Asia, Tania Jacobs, said: “India is unique. You cannot expect to get the numbers of traffic just by working with, for example, the top 10 wholesalers. You need to develop awareness among the public as well.”

To that end, the destination has appointed a public relations and social media agency in Mumbai to come up with various online and offline programmes.

Indian arrivals to Victoria were 58,300 in 2010, a 15 per cent increase over the previous year.

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