A NEW trade association devoted to India outbound has been formed, while major Indian inbound players that have started to tap outbound expect the level to match their inbound volume in the next two to three years.

The new grouping, Society of Foreign Travel Operators (SFTO) India, received government clearance a month ago and has elected Ajay Jaipuria of Travel Oytser as president and Sandeep Jain of Ad-Voyage Travels as vice president.

India has many trade associations, but they cover mainly ticketing, inbound and domestic travel. SFTO hopes to bridge the outbound gap. Said Jain: “We are aiming for 5,000 members. They include agents, airlines, overseas NTOs – anyone who is serious about tapping India outbound.”

There is no shortage of interest, as the market’s mighty potential shows signs of erupting. Already, there are some 12 million travellers a year – double the number of inbound arrivals.

The Estonia tourism authority, for instance, wants to work with SFTO to bring 200 Indian agents to Estonia for an educational in April, said Jain.

– Read more in TTG-PTM Official Daily – Day 2 issue

INDIAN players brushed off yesterday’s Delhi bomb blast as an aberration that will not dent tourism growth, even as some buyers interviewed by the Daily showed concern.

The bomb exploded in front of the High Court, 2km from the venue of PATA Travel Mart, which was being inaugurated by India’s tourism minister Subodh Kant Sahai.

Indian tourism officials were deadpan when queried by the Daily about the impact of terror on their inbound hopes during yesterday’s PATA media briefing.

On the floor, Indian sellers put on a stoic face. Vikram Madhok, managing director, Abercrombie & Kent, said: “The US had its 9/11, and so did India (referring to the Mumbai attack), but we came back beautifully. Our growth story remains intact.”

Arjun Sharma, managing director, Le Passage to India, said: “This is a random occurrence, and it is always sad when lives are lost. But tourism is resilient. I will discount this as an aberration and it will be business as usual after the intial shock.”

Buyers are split over the impact, with those from more crisis-sensitive markets such as the US and China saying India inbound will suffer a price.

– Read more in TTG-PTM Official Daily – Day 2 issue

PUNJAB’S wealthy city of Amritsar is preparing for an influx in inbound visitors, having scored its first foreign airline, which will be commencing flights from London on October 13.

Heathrow-based airline BMI (British Midland International) has picked the city as its first Indian destination, a significant coup for Amritsar, which is connected to international destinations like the UK, US and Canada, but only via Indian carriers. A Star Alliance member, BMI’s thrice-weekly flights will offer possibilities for codesharing to other Western markets.

There is also talk that Kingfisher Airlines is scheduled to start direct flights to Bangkok, while Air India is looking at flights to Vienna.

Agents are already putting together packages that combine Amritsar with Dalhousie, Chamba, Chandigarh and Dharamshala, which will also incorporate Delhi, Agra and Jaipur.

Hotels by Sheraton, Taj, Holiday Inn, Radisson Blu, Park Plaza and Ramada are also set to open their doors by 2013.

In addition, the Punjab state government is developing tourism projects aided by US$570 million from the Asian Development Bank, as well as receiving training and technical help from the United Nations World Tourism Organization. New products include farm stays, luxury train journeys and wetland ecotourism.

– Read more in TTG-PTM Official Daily – Day 2 issue

GROWTH in the Indian outbound leisure market to Australia has been good despite the strong Australian dollar, say agents, although incentives may weaken next year.

Qantas Holidays business development manager-India and South Asia, Shobhana Gautum, said: “We closed the financial year ending June 2011 with an 80 per cent growth in India outbound to Australia, New Zealand and Fiji, with more than 80 per cent going to Australia.”

Gujarat-based Anytime Hotels CEO, Rishi Budhadev, added that the volume of traffic to Australia handled by his agency in the last five months had already surpassed what was recorded for the whole of the last financial year. “Many Indian travellers have seen Asia, and want something new,” he said.

Delhi-based Uniglobe Indica Travels president Shiban Kotru said that while it now cost 30 per cent more to visit Australia, Indian travellers were “discerning enough to know the destination offers good value” and the disposable income of Indian consumers had also increased.

Tourism Australia projects tourism earnings from India to exceed A$1 billion (US$1.1 billion) this year, compared to A$844 million in 2010.

– Read more in TTG-PTM Official Daily – Day 2 issue

CHENGDU Culture & Tourism Development Group (CCTDG) and PATA inked yesterday a memorandum of understanding, committing to strengthen Sichuan’s tourism standards and branding.

Chengdu is the capital city of Sichuan province, and this is CCTDG’s first training and research partnership with an international tourism organisation.

Research topics are likely to focus on travel trends, future projections and tourism crisis management, said Ouyang Ge, manager of CCTDG European project team.

Training sessions, which are expected to begin next January, will be conducted by PATA and offered free of charge to any tourism practitioner in Sichuan, said Yin Jianhua, board chairman of CCTDG.

“Our strategic cooperation with PATA will help us understand international travel trends and place us in a better position to attract international visitors,” said Yin.

MESSE Berlin is terminating its partnership with SATTE (South Asian Travel & Tourism Event), now that it has been bought by UBM Asia, and looks set to go to bed with the Goa International Travel Mart (GITM).

GITM is holding a conference this afternoon at the Hotel Royal Plaza, Delhi to speak about its “new partnership with ITB Berlin”. Full details of the partnership were not forthcoming at press time, with the Daily only able to ascertain that there was no equity involved on the part of ITB in the show.

India’s steady rise as an inbound, domestic and outbound travel giant is set to reshape its travel tradeshows. Encouraged by the success of its Great India Travel Bazaar (GITB) in Jaipur, the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry will organise a Great Indian Domestic Travel Bazaar in Delhi in August 2012. TTG Asia Media is also finalising plans to organise a MICE show in India.

But for a destination that sends out over 12 million travellers, has 705 million domestic visitors and eyes eight million arrivals by 2015 (from 5.6 million last year), India does not yet have one main tradeshow that showcases most of the country.

The main four are GITB, SATTE in Delhi, Kerala Travel Mart and GITM, and the jostling to be the biggest has started, with SATTE claiming its 2012 edition will be spread over 16,500m2 gross, thus making it India’s biggest travel and tourism event.

PATA mart buyers and Indian sellers interviewed said a big show was needed.

– Read more in TTG-PTM Official Daily – Day 1 issue

Additional reporting from Raini Hamdi