With coronavirus epidemic affecting the world’s travel landscape, a lot of international trip cancellations are being recorded from India to not only China but to its neighbouring countries as well. This week, many international tourism players visited India to attend the annual rendez-vous of the travel trade, OTM in Mumbai.
According to a recent UNWTO study, India will account for 50 million outbound tourists by 2020. Indian travellers spend an average of USD 2,334 against APAC’s USD 1,677. Predictions say that Indian outbound tourism market will surpass USD 42 billion by the end of the year 2024.
And more than ever, international players are buzzing to get a slice of the pie and benefit from the booming Indian outbound market. With the coronavirus outbreak in China and the region, the outbound traffic dynamics are fast-changing. Chinese tourists travel movements being limited, India – the world’s fastest growing outbound market, is inevitably going to play a key role. Notably with the destination choices Indian tourists will make in 2020.
It’s in this context that Mumbai hosted the largest travel & tourism trade show of India, OTM Mumbai, which took place from February 3 to 5 at the Bombay Exhibition Centre, NESCO.
The biggest travel show in India
OTM brought some of the unique names in the travel industry under one roof along with the biggies. Joining the show this year were destinations such as Azerbaijan, Cambodia, Fiji, Greece, Kazakhstan, Myanmar, Taiwan, Korea, Tanzania, Rwanda, Japan, Kenya and few more with the giants like Thailand, Malaysia, Indonesia, Egypt, Nepal, Sri Lanka and others. Over 1,100 exhibitors including hotels, destination management companies, travel tech companies, airlines, cruise companies from more than 50 countries were part of OTM 2020.
Known for its focus on Indian outbound travel market, the show registered nearly 50 pc growth in its international segment further establishing its lead in the India and APAC travel trade show landscape.
Speaking to India Outbound, Harris Theocharis, the tourism minister of Greece who was also the international chief guest of the show said, “Greece is very pleased to promote its destinations in OTM to the Indian tourists. Mumbai is our top market and we have a long association with OTM through our private partners under the roof of HATTA, our travel agents’ association. We have many things to showcase to Indians. We are here to promote cruise, MICE, wedding and family holidays. We want high-end Indian tourists to spend their summer in Greece.”
Southeast and East Asia had a large presence, with gorgeous pavilions from Taiwan, Thailand, Fiji, Korea and Japan. Commenting on the show, Yusuke Yamamoto, the executive director of Japan National Tourism Organisation (JNTO) said, “OTM is a very good show. Being a B2B only event, the show is a very good platform for us to interact with the Indian travel market which is of critical importance to Japan.”
Malaysia’s pavilion was themed with eco-tourism in mind. “I’ve been here for two days and the feedback I got is that the response has been very positive. I myself have met with local players here and I’m confident that India will continue to perform well for Malaysia,” said Zulkifly Bin Md Said, the deputy director general of Tourism Malaysia.
Amongst the domestic players, almost 30 state tourism boards and union territories came onboard to exhibit. India Tourism also had its own pavilion to showcase pan-India destinations and interact with global buyers. The states included Andaman & Nicobar, Andhra Pradesh, Himachal Pradesh, Jammu & Kashmir, Goa, Gujarat, Karnataka, Kerala, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Tamil Nadu, Bihar, Punjab, Meghalaya, Manipur, Jharkhand, Odisha, Uttarakhand and West Bengal, each state along with a large selection of private participants.
At the inaugural programme, Satpal Maharaj, minister of tourism, government of Uttarakhand said, “India is a land of tourism diversities. Our yoga culture gives light to the entire world. We are sure that along with foreign tourists, more Indians will explore their own country and domestic tourism will rise and shine.”
“It is not only encouraging for the OTM travel show; but also very positive for the future of the travel and tourism industry as a whole. Government of India is promoting tourism for the last few years in a very strong manner and we are getting the result for the same. The cumulative rate of foreign tourist arrivals has been growing above 8 pc. Skill development, employment generation, facilitating the hotel industry with GST restructuring and with e-visa making India preferable to foreign tourists remain our top priorities while at the same time we want more Indians to explore their own country under ‘Ek Bharat Shreshtha Bharat‘ (One India, Great India),” said Yogendra Tripathi, tourism secretary, government of India, during the closing ceremony.
OTM is supported by a Hosted Buyer Programme where a range of hand-selected travel trade and corporate travel buyers from within India were hosted as VIP guests. 500+ top travel trade buyers comprising India’s biggest travel agents and tour operators alongside 50+ corporate decision-makers from ICICI, Ericsson, Reliance, Adani, Sharekhan, Mahindra, Raymond, Network 18 and others interacted with the 1,100+ exhibitors on the show floor.
200+ travel trade buyers and 100+ corporate buyers who are based in Mumbai attended OTM as pre-registered partially hosted buyers. 50+ MICE Planners and Wedding Planners from Cineyug, ANR Weddings, Bariza Events, Tamarind Global attended OTM while 50+ top Wedding Planners based in Mumbai were also a part of WeddingSutra Engage, a special segment dedicated to the booming destination weddings market in India.
Tie-ups with travel trade associations such as OTOAI, SKAL International, ADTOI, TAFI, ETAA, TAAI, IATO, NIMA, EEMA, SIGTOA, TAAP, TAAN, GTAA, TAG and RAAG were made to attract top buyers from all over India. International buyers from countries such as Australia, France, Spain, the US, Canada, Georgia, Romania, Poland, Italy, Israel, Bulgaria, Mexico, Qatar, Sri Lanka, Zimbabwe were also present.
“OTM has always been a pioneer show in the industry to project the trends in the Indian travel landscape. It is the meeting place of all the top tourism boards, airlines, private players, association and media under one roof to interact so that everyone goes back with an enhanced knowledge level to utilise them back in their own businesses,” Riaz Munshi, the president of OTOAI (Outbound Tour Operators Association of India) told India Outbound.
“OTM always brings new countries to India, which is a very great help for the outbound tourism players who get to interact with them directly to expand their network of businesses in newer countries. As far as associations are concerned we are thrilled to have our prominent place inside the international hall where we are widely visible and are able to do good business,” said Ranjini Nambiar, the president of Skal International India to India Outbound.
“Thailand is a destination that is present in the check-list or wish list of every outbound Indian traveller. Alongside the breathtaking coastline, gorgeous nightlife, shopping locations; there are several factors that help them decide, such as – travel time, distance from India, connectivity, flexible visa policy, availability of Indian food and exotic places to visit. However, in recent years, India as a travel market has undergone remarkable changes. Additionally, the travellers are far more evolved as they are seeking to make their vacation, an experience and not just a holiday. To make the most of this transformation Tourism Authority of Thailand has restructured its strategy to position Thailand as a desirable destination by introducing a campaign, Open to the New Shades. We are showcasing all of that,” said Cholada Siddhivarn, the director of Tourism Authority of Thailand (Mumbai) to India Outbound.
Key trends of the travel industry
OTM’s knowledge programme, OTM Forum 2020 had over 50 leaders who delivered talks, took master-classes and engaged in conversation with the audience. Topics ranged from enhancing customer experience, corporate travel outlook, disruption in the hotel sector and the scope of alternate accommodation, Insta Tourism and exploring the state of accessible tourism around the globe among some more.
The show also launched an Adventure & Experiential Travel Zone, specially dedicated to the growing demand for immersive travel. The zone was dedicated to trekking, caving, parasailing, flyboarding, skydiving, flying fox/zip line, rock climbing, bungee jumping, scuba diving, paragliding, kayaking, surfing, river rafting, hot air ballooning, wildlife safari/bird watching, cycling, camping, and much more.
Commenting on this, Tejbir Singh Anand, the vice-president of ATOAI (Adventure Tour Operators Association of India) told India Outbound, “We are thrilled with the Adventure & Experiential Zone. Indian young travellers are now nothing but keen adventure seekers. When they take a holiday, all they want is some adrenaline rush. The more we promote safe, secure and affordable adventure, more young Indians will join the force!”
OTM is organised by Fairfest Media, that also organises TTF (Travel & Tourism Fair) series across India, the bleisure show BLTM in New Delhi and Islamic Travel Mart in Mumbai. “OTM is not only the largest gathering of international participants in Asia but also there is a huge gathering of domestic exhibitors from almost all the states led by the state tourism boards. More than 30,000 highly qualified travel trade visitors have walked this year’s show and our 1,100 sellers who came from their respective places booked OTM to do some serious business with these quality clients,” said Sanjiv Agarwal, the chairman & CEO of Fairfest Media to India Outbound.
