With India Convention Promotion Bureau (ICPB) - TTG Asia

BRIEFING
India
MARCH 9, 2012 • TTG SHOW DAILY ITB BERLIN 19
The trade is working harder to lure a soft market
back to its shores. Shekhar Nigoyi reports
Even though the debilitating
eurozone economic
crisis has not impacted
Germany directly, Indian inbound
travel companies handling
the market report it is having
an impact on travel.
Many feel that caution is the
reason behind delayed confirmation
of bookings, from four
months before to as short as four
weeks now.
Ratanpreet Kaur, travel counsellor
of Holidays of India, a
product of SOTC, said: “Usually
at this time we are deluged with
requests, but this year it is surprisingly
dry from our German
clients. We expect it may pick up
next month but one cannot be
sure.”
Said the head-product development
of an inbound company:
“In many instances, Germans
are postponing their travel plans
to a later time and there is a trend
to conserve money due to a fearpsychosis
caused by the problems
in the EU.
“Demand from Germany
dropped 20 per cent in 2011 and
we expect a further dip in 2012.
We are creating new products to
give the German clients an incentive
to return.”
But Rohit Kohli, joint managing
director of Creative Travel,
blamed the apparent reticence of
the German tourist on difficulties
in obtaining visas rather than
eurozone economic concerns.
“India has outsourced visa applications
and the website is not
user-friendly, with only an English
version of the application
form. Outbound tour operators
are not permitted to help their
customers fill the forms, which
must be done by the travellers
themselves. Moreover, there are
inordinate delays in the issuance
of visas that must be addressed
immediately.”
Some trade members like
Anand Singh, manager, Le Pas-
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