Tourism Australia has launched a new tourism promotion campaign ‘UnDiscover Australia’ in India and South East Asia specifically targeting high value travellers in India, Singapore, Indonesia and Malaysia.

The campaign challenges perceptions and stereotypes of what Australia offers as a tourism destination by showcasing unusual, unfamiliar and unexpected attractions and experiences. It is being backed by Australia’s state and territory tourism organisations, airlines, and a range of other key distribution partners.

There is a website dedicated to this campaign that highlights all the different experiences travellers can have on their trip Down Under. From Places to Go, to Things to Do, and even Youth Travel, the website is a comprehensive platform for all content that anyone might require to plan their vacation. Additionally, it also has a Plan Your Trip section that lets travellers find agents who can help them book their trips.

Nishant Kashikar, Country Manager, India & Gulf, Tourism Australia said, “This campaign will shine a spotlight on some of our undiscovered and hidden holiday gems, showing there’s much more to an Australian holiday for Indians in addition to experiencing our well-known icons. Yes, you can watch a game of cricket at the magnificent Adelaide Oval, but are people aware that they can also do an amazing rooftop climb offering 360 views of the city? Or that there are plentiful immersive experiences amidst untouched natural landscapes in close proximity to our vibrant cities. It’s surprising experiences such as these that we will be seeking to highlight through this campaign,” he said.

The UnDiscover Australia campaign will be executed in two phases in India – September to November and January to April to coincide with the holiday planning periods for the peak travel season during the year-end and Indian summer respectively. The campaign will also be amplified during the India’s cricket tour of Australia.

India is currently Australia’s fastest growing market for arrivals and spend, achieving a fourth consecutive year of double-digit growth. Arrivals from India to Australia grew by 19.6% for the year ended June 2018 with an influx of 335,100 visitors, compared to same period last year, making India the 8th largest inbound market for Australia.

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With international inbound to Turkey looking up once again, Turkey will be rigorously reactivating its trade engagements in emerging markets like China and India. Starting from September, Turkish Tourism will embark on a series of promotional campaigns and destination marketing activities in Indian market. This is in sync with the 100-day Action Plan unveiled by Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan earlier this month aimed at transforming Turkey economically. In the tourism sector, the Action Plan has set a target of 40 million international inbound by end of this year.

Foreign tourist arrivals in the first six months of 2018 increased by 30% compared to the same period of the previous year, reaching around 16 million, as per official statistics. Tourism revenue in the first six months of this year rose from USD 8.7 billion to USD 11.4 billion.

The 100-day Action Plan underscores the importance of emerging markets like India, China, Indonesia, Malaysia, etc., said H Deniz Ersoz, Culture & Tourism Counsellor, Embassy of Republic of Turkey in India. The tourism department has been asked to undertake dedicated activities in these markets to increase the inbound from these emerging markets, he added. He said that these markets are important for Turkish Tourism for “diversification of products” as unlike European visitors who are more “sun and sand” oriented, visitors from these markets are keen on exploring the life and culture of the country.

Talking about plans for the India market, Ersoz said that Turkish Tourism hasn’t done much in the market since last couple of years other than attending few important trade exhibitions. However, starting from September, Turkish Tourism will start joint promotional campaigns with leading tour companies in the country. This will include some dedicated special campaigns to attract the weddings market, he said. Turkish Tourism is also in the process of finalising two roadshows series in October and November this year covering major cities like Mumbai, Delhi, Bengaluru, Hyderabad, Chennai, Kolkata and few Tier-II cities. The tourism agency will also conduct three familiarisation tours in 2018, Ersoz said. While one will be dedicated to wedding planners, other two will be for corporates and media. MICE, he said, is a key segment and there has already been big group movements to Turkey from India.

India inbound to Turkey grew 100% between January and June this year compared to the corresponding period last year. “We hope this year will be best year as far as visitor numbers are concerned from India. We are hoping to receive two lakh Indian visitors this year,” Ersoz said. The highest Indian numbers to Turkey was in 2015 with 1.32 lakh visitors. “Around 15 big Indian weddings are confirmed in 2018,” he informed.

“Our focus is to showcase Turkey beyond Istanbul. The messaging would be to look beyond Istanbul.” Ersoz said that 90% of the hotels on the Mediterranean coast work on all-inclusive packages. This is yet not known in India market. Therefore, efforts would be to make this messaging spread across the trade in India.

Commenting on the Turkey-India bilateral on tourism, he said that effort is on to revive the Joint Working Group mechanism on tourism between the two countries. He said that the last meeting of the group was held in 2006. “I had meetings with Ministry of Tourism officials in India on reviving the mechanism to explore scope of mutual cooperation in tourism. We are exploring a (Joint Working Group) JWG meeting in Istanbul sometime in October- November this year,” he added.

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Expedia has announced the launch of Expedia Add-On Advantage, a new product offering for consumers to save time and money on hotel bookings. The Expedia Add-On Advantage allows customers to enjoy discounted bundled rates, even when they book their flights and hotels separately.

The new feature will allow travellers to add on a hotel deal at any time after purchasing their flight up until the day of the trip. On average, Indian travellers can secure up to 44 percent off the cost of their hotel purchase.

Add-On Advantage solution is ideal for travellers who prefer to have more time and flexibility to book their hotel before their trip starts. With a package, the traveller pays the entire cost up-front, while with Add-On Advantage, consumers have the flexibility of availing a hotel deal on the same trip at a convenient time, until your day of departure.

Expedia’s research and testing indicates that some travellers prefer to book a flight and hotel separately and with Add-On Advantage they can do just that. In a survey commissioned by Expedia this year, Indian travellers ranked number 3 as the most frequent flier, with an average of 7.6 flights taken in an year, compare to other countries in APAC region.

In an additional recent Expedia survey it also indicates that only 21.6% Indians would bundle their flight and hotel while the rest 78.4% book hotels post booking the flights in their convenient time, ranging from 24 hours to a month, missing out on potential savings by not bundling them together. The Expedia Add-On Advantage offers travellers a unique and flexible proposition to bundle and save, which Expedia believes will attract savvy travellers requiring more time and flexibility to book their trip.

Manmeet Ahluwalia, Marketing Head, Brand Expedia in India says, “As a consumer today with multiple online options, it is natural to spend time researching in order to bag great deals on anything we purchase. Consumers booking online travel products end up spending over 14 hrs on an average to find great deals on a vacation. Understanding the Indian traveller psyche well, we wanted to empower our consumers with the option of selecting great deals without spending countless hours on research. Add-On Advantage allows just that – saving money and time – together.

In a fast paced city, this option will help our travellers spend time on things they love to do – be it to pursue individual passions or to spend time with loved ones, while indulging during the holiday through cost savings. We want to make booking a vacation a hassle-free, relaxed experience for our consumers.

According to the study conducted by Expedia, 93% Indian travellers book their hotel within a week of booking their flights tickets. And if they get a hotel discount, 27% will book immediately, while a total of over 90% will book within the offer period.

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Booking.com has identified the most booked destinations by Indian travellers for April to June period of 2018. Middle East, United Kingdom and Europe have proven to be big draw cards with Dubai, London and Paris topping the list of the most booked international destinations by Indian travellers followed by Singapore and Bangkok. On the domestic front, most Indian travellers made their reservations in New Delhi, Mumbai and Bengaluru followed by new entrants Hyderabad and Chennai as the top domestic destinations by Indian travellers.

Image source: India TV

When comparing Indian bookings during the summer season (April to June) from 2017 to 2018, and ranking them by the highest difference between the two years, some interesting insights are revealed:

1. In 2018, Russia, Turkey and Sri Lanka find a spot among the highly-booked destinations for travellers from India as compared to the same period last year

2. Vietnam, Indonesia and Nepal are a few of the emerging destinations preferred for travel by Indian travellers in 2018

3. Some of the destinations that have remained common between 2017 and 2018 include Bangkok, Singapore and Dubai

According to Ritu Mehrotra, Country Manager India, Booking.com, “With the expanding economic scenario and more disposable incomes, the Indian travel industry is currently growing at a rapid pace. Consumers are increasingly moving towards online travel bookings as smartphone penetration grows and use of e-commerce and digital payments goes up. The rise of internet and social media has also helped in creating greater consumer awareness not only in metros but also in non-metro cities as we witness an increasing number of travellers from smaller cities and less populated areas of the country planning both domestic and international vacations.”

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London Stock Exchange-listed tourism company TUI has set its sight on the fast expanding Indian online travel market. It recently shut its business of distributing holiday packages and launched an online platform in early May for hotel and flight bookings and to compete with players such as MakeMyTrip and Yatra.

Having identified India, China and Brazil as future markets to gain significant share in the growing online travel bookings space, TUI Group has devised the ‘TUI 2022’ strategy. As part of this exercise, the Group’s subsidiary TUI India has been transformed to a digital provider exclusively focusing on the online business. Its website www.tui.in now allows Indian consumers to combine flight and hotel offerings within seconds. The change in approach is underpinned by the appointment of Krishan Singh as CEO of TUI India. Krishan joins TUI India from Yatra.com where he served as Senior Vice President.

With its TUI 2022 programme, the Group will achieve a fully digital market entry based on standardised, globally scalable and uniform software architecture in India, China and Brazil. By 2022, TUI Group aims to win additional turnover of EUR 1 billion and 1 million additional customers from these future markets.

TUI launched its classical tour operating business in India in 2005. The business has now been realigned to reflect India’s rapidly expanding Internet usage and significant growth of online travel bookings. In 2017 alone, revenue in the online travel booking market in India climbed by more than 30% year-on-year to USD 22.5 billion.

Alexander Linden, Director Future Markets, TUI Group, “India is one of our future markets to deliver additional growth for the TUI Group. Realigning the local business with a strong digital focus under our TUI brand offers enormous opportunities. I am happy to have Krishan and his team onboard, they will ensure business expansion and deliver future growth.”

The Indian online travel market has been seeing a rapid growth led by steep discounts and offers from market leaders such as MakeMyTrip and Yatra. While nobody else is making much money in the space, TUI is clear that it wants to have a sustainable and profitable Indian journey.

Besides selling hotels and flights, TUI will also focus on growing the flights-plus-hotels segment to short-haul destinations such as Singapore, Dubai and Mauritius.

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Indians are now numero uno when it comes to being tech-savvy when travelling overseas. According to Expedia’s ‘2018 Global Flight and Hotel Etiquette’ survey, Indians are most likely to pay for in-flight Wi-Fi. The survey was conducted among 18,229 respondents from 23 countries, including the US and countries in Europe, South America and Asia Pacific, as per details shared with The Economic Times.

Indians may have just given the go-ahead for airlines to provide in-flight mobile connectivity, but they are clearly already ahead of the pack when it comes to tech in travel. Indians also ranked No.1 in engaging with airlines over social media about their travel experiences while at the airport, at the gate or on the plane (34%), listening to music or podcasts (72%) and No.2 for playing video games in flight (37%). Additionally, Indians are increasingly shifting to technology for services, such as online check-ins. As much as 67% Indians check in online (No.7 globally) while on mobile check-in, they are ranked No.1 at 18%. The country stood at the second spot, behind Thailand, for the number of people using the boarding pass on a mobile device (29%). Indians were ranked No.2 two for recording bad airline experiences on their smartphone cameras.

Image source: Web In Travel

Much of this increase can be attributed to the decrease in hardware costs, and the resulting increase in mobile penetration across the country. Hot on heels of family and friend recommendations for travel planning comes travel-specific information on the Internet. In India, online information plays a significant role in both the “dreaming” and “planning” stages of the traveller’s path to purchase.

According to an Amadeus report, 17% of Indian leisure travellers used their smartphones for travel arrangements, while no less than 42% of Indian business travellers did so. This trend is not confined to the young. Some 7-8% of Indians over 65 used smartphones to make travel bookings!

So, what should be the game plan to engage these travellers? The obvious one is to make sure you are both digitally ready and well connected to the travel trade. It is also important that your content is mobile friendly. Indian travellers are comfortable with browsing on the Internet and with receiving and responding to mobile ads. Another important thing to note is to keep these ads either very simple or make it extremely engaging, or even both. The timing for placing these ads is also very crucial. Commute times in India are often long, so placing ads in front of people at commute times can be a good approach.

Like most people globally, Indians also judge brands by the speed with which their sites download. So make sure you know that your content can reach them quickly. This is true everywhere. However, in a country of one billion people, where most of your key users are in crowded locations, it becomes even more important. Similarly, make sure your users can find their way back to where they were when they found you. Never take them away from their starting point.

It’s a fascinating era to travel in, and as new technologies become commonplace in travel tech, they present a great opportunity for OTAs, airlines, hotels and other travel brands to ride this tide and engage more efficiently with their growing base of Indian customers.

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The rising trend of Indians travelling internationally is not something that can be missed easily. Outbound travel from India is growing exponentially every year; the Yatra Winter Travel Survey 2017 showed that 36% of travellers were planning an international holiday. On an overall basis, it is estimated that 25 million Indians travelled overseas in 2017, which is growing a very healthy double-digit rate, setting India on the path to become one of the largest outbound travel markets in the world in the next few years.

Moreover, it is not just the lure of shopping and eating in international locations that brings travellers to foreign shores. With an increasing number of Indian travellers, especially millennials, prioritizing personal experiences over material things, it’s fueling the growth of a more experiential travel ecosystem across the world.

Latching on to this insight, VisitBritain launched its new brand campaign ‘I Travel For’ in Mumbai last month. The campaign will run across digital channels, including Facebook and website to engage with potential travellers and inspire them to book a holiday to Britain right now. Using short films and story-telling to showcase unexpected experiences, the campaign aligns the passions that motivate people to travel with experiences that can only be had in Britain, inspiring overseas visitors to book a trip right now.

Driven primarily across Facebook and Instagram, the campaign will also feature Britain’s iconic landmarks and attractions. Additionally, the films highlight common travel interests such as adventure, culinary, relaxation, culture and the undiscovered.

Still from the campaign film, of an unexplored destination in Great Britain.

Highlighting the new brand campaign, VisitBritain Chief Executive Sally Balcombe said, “I Travel For campaign in India will be targeting Buzzseeker travellers. This campaign aims to build on the strong growth we have seen in visits from India, showcasing that Britain is bursting with fun activities and adventure, exciting and contemporary culture and highlighting less-explored destinations. By promoting unexpected experiences, alongside globally renowned and iconic cultural landmarks and attractions, VisitBritain wants to inspire more visitors from India to book a trip to Britain right now.”

Between January and September 2017, there were a record 436,000 inbound visits from India to the UK, up 32% compared to the same period in 2016. Visits from India spent a record £355 million between January and September 2017, up 7% on same period in 2016.

In February last year, VisitBritain tapped into India’s love for Bollywood and Harry Potter by launching a marketing campaign #OMGB (Oh my Great Britain) ‘Home of Amazing Moments’, to inspire Indian travellers to visit the UK. The seven week campaign ran successfully across social platforms, highlighting unique experiences Britain can offer.

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Thailand welcomed more than 1.4 million Indians to its shores in 2017, marking an 18% increase from the year before. India also ranks in top five list of highest number of visitors to Thailand after China, Malaysia, Korea and Laos.

Thailand saw more than 35.3 million international visitors in 2017 and earned THB (Thai Baht) 1.82 trillion in tourism revenue. The Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT), Mumbai showcased its new campaigns ‘Open to the New Shades of Thailand’ and ‘Amazing Thailand Tourism Year 2018′ at OTM 2018 held in Mumbai from 18th- 20th January 2018. Soraya Homchuen, Director, TAT, said, “We are initiating many unique activities and projects this year that will focus on promoting women, family and first time traveller segments for the Indian market. OTM is India’s largest and most international gathering of travel trade buyers and professionals, and most importantly it is conducted in Mumbai each year which is headquarters to almost all major outbound tour operators.”

Santi Chudintra, Deputy Governor for International Marketing (Asia and the South Pacific), said, “The new campaign ‘Open to the New Shades of Thailand’ aims to give more attention to unique local experiences and inclusive tourism, reflecting Thainess and the Thai people’s warmth in welcoming visitors. Within this, there is a focus on specific customer segments; such as, gastronomy tourism, luxury, weddings and honeymoons, families, female travellers and Gen Y. Also the new campaign ‘Amazing Thailand Tourism Year 2018’ has been launched to support the government’s national tourism development plan, ensuring that Thailand remains a preferred destination and delivers a quality product; thus boosting the average length of stay, expenditure and repeat visit.”

The destination presentation showcased various new regions and provinces of Thailand that Indians should visit like Chiang Mai, Chiang Rai, Khao Yai, Rayong, Ko Chang, and also highlighted various uber luxury experiences available in Thailand.

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Lufthansa recently launched its new #SayYesToTheWorld brand campaign in India, celebrating openness and curiosity. The campaign is about exploring a world of new possibilities and saying yes to the unknown.

As part of the cross-media campaign, Lufthansa installed aircraft seats at public locations in Mumbai, Munich, Shanghai and New York, among other places, and asked people walking by to sit in the seats and answer the question “Why do you love the world?” The campaign does not include statement, but open questions that can be answered based on personal and unique experiences, which makes the short ad relatable to a wide variety of travellers, not just in India, but across the world.

This campaign is probably one of the more innovative ones to have come from the company, and aims to question familiar ways of thinking and habits, challenge the status quo, while demonstrating how enriching it is to discover the world. At the heart of all this is Lufthansa’s mission to inspire people to explore, to see the world, and open their minds to new experiences.

The #SayYesToTheWorld adds a new dimension to Lufthansa’s promise in India, after its ‘More Indian than you think’ campaign. The focus shifts from Indian cuisine and hospitality, to a new breed of Indian ‘explorers’, who are willing to push boundaries, and display a different open-mindedness to explore the world.

Commenting on the launch, Wolfgang Will, Senior Director, South Asia, Lufthansa German Airlines, said, “Lufthansa opens up the world to all explorers. With more and more Indians displaying a growing zest for exploring the world, the new campaign adds to our assurance of being ‘More Indian than you think’ and reaffirms our commitment to being a preferred partner to the Indian traveller.”

The new campaign is also accompanied with a new digital engagement hub at LH.com/sayyes. It invites people around the world to pin any place on the online world map and share what they would like to say “Yes!” to there. Participants stand a chance to win a ticket to explore a dream destination in Europe. In line with the campaign, Lufthansa is also reinventing itself in response to the changing customer requirements. Against the backdrop of digitalization, the refreshed brand logo celebrates the distinctive Lufthansa crane created 100 years ago, while transforming it into a dynamic new-age brand. It reflects a thinner ring, which makes the crane look more elegant, bringing it into the foreground and granting it more space. This will take into account the variety of brands in the Group, offering optical neutrality for all companies.

From embracing local cultures to operating its most high-end fleet in India, Lufthansa has been making heavy investments in the Indian marketplace to woo local travellers. In just four years, it has also positioned itself among the top foreign aviation players in the country.

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For the second consecutive year, Israel has broken its tourism record in India along with reaching a staggering three million tourists arrival mark in 2017. With more than 49,000 Indians having visited Israel until October 2017, the country marked a growth of 34% from January to October vis-à- vis the same period last year, according to statistics released by Israel Ministry of Tourism (IMOT).

Speaking about the positive growth, Hassan Madah, Director, Israel Ministry of Tourism India, said, “This has been the best year of incoming tourist arrivals for Israel and India continues to be an important contributor for us. Our effort towards promoting Israel as a dynamic holiday destination as opposed to its otherwise restricted perception as a religious destination is yielding positive results and we are witnessing successful outcomes of our increased investments in the Indian market.”

Hassan Madah, Director, Israel Ministry of Tourism India

Israel has been courting tourists from India for a while now with a flurry of celebrity endorsements, ad campaigns and social media. The Israeli government, keen to tap a growing Asian middle class, has thrown its resources behind a number of efforts to promote the destination.

In May 2016, A-list Bollywood actor Sonam Kapoor came to Israel as a guest of the Israel Tourism Ministry. The hope here was that her endorsements, in the form of social media posts, would translate to more tourist visits down the road. Sonam Kapoor chronicled her trip via Snapchat, which saw her visiting sites around the Old City and the Dead Sea. She later appeared in a photoshoot of the Harper’s Bazaar Bride, India, frolicking in the streets of ancient Jerusalem, wearing a number of gowns created by both Indian and Israeli designers.

Just after the magazine appeared, the Israeli Tourism Ministry kicked off another US$1.5 million campaign in India, replete with print media endorsements and shout-outs on social media, as well as a dedicated website for Indian travellers to Israel. The ministry launched its first ever ad campaign in India that carried the message – “On most vacations, you take a trip. But in Israel, you take a journey you will never forget”.

Not just that, the tourism department has also been teaming up with leading OTAs operating in India, including MakeMyTrip, Booking.com and Trivago, to offer special deals and discounts to Indian travellers.

According to Hassan Madah, since the beginning of the year, tourism has brought in $4.1 billion into the economy. “In 2016, 45,000 Indians visited Israel and we have surpassed that number by October itself this year. We hope to have 60,000 Indian arrivals to Israel by end of 2017.”

Looking at the steady increase in tourist arrivals from India, Israel is also eyeing one lakh Indian travellers to visit the country by 2018. With reports about introducing direct Air India flights connecting New Delhi with Israel in a few months, the tourist traffic from India is likely to surge further.

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