Spain roadshow in Oct
Spain Tourism Board's roadshow in India from Oct 13-17, will see DMCs and travel service providers of Spain interact with their Indian counterparts.
The roadshows will be held from October 1317 in Mumbai, Bengaluru, and Kolkata, respectively, informed Ignacio Ducasse Gutierrez, Director, Tourism Office of Spain in Mumbai. Spain welcomed 84,903 Indian tourists in 2015 and registered approximately 11,195 Indian tourist arrivals from January to March this year. “We are aiming to achieve a growth of about 10-15 per cent this year thereby touching approximately 100,000 Indian tourist arrivals,” says Gutierrez.
On an average, Indians spend about ` 2,000 per trip (including flight tickets) and over ` 200 per day. The major tourism segments in the Indian outbound market to Spain are luxury, shopping, football, culture, sun and beach, nightlife and festivals.
“We are currently targeting the segments of gastronomy, self-drive, adventure, golf, arts and culture and honeymoon and weddings. We believe a vast untapped potential lies in these niche segments and could result in increased growth in the com- ing years. We are also paying special attention to the World Heritage Cities and this year, we will additionally be focusing on the Canary Islands, in particular Las Palmas de Gran Canaria and Tenerife,” says Gutierrez.
Also, for the first time India was included in the celebrations of World Tapas Day, which was held on the third Thursday of June. “We will be organising the World Tapas Day to showcase Spanish gastronomy, on the third Thursday of every June from 2016 onwards and will be investing in several promotional campaigns to highlight the other mentioned segments in Spain,” adds Gutierrez.
Thirty per cent of tourists in Spain belong to the MICE segment and the country is targeting this segment aggressively, informs Gutierrez. “A big MICE event is being planned for the India market which will be held tentatively in New Delhi in November,” he says.
Hosted Buyer Program. They are selected through South African Tourism’s country offices based in the various markets worldwide,” shares Hanneli
Slabber, Country Head, South African Tourism. When such discerning buyers meet with eager suppliers who have innovative offerings and packages to share, valuable connections are forged. “That is ultimately the objective – to facilitate connections and business discussions between interested parties. Such efforts go a long way in creating a synergistic ecosystem to grow the overall industry,” she adds.
In 2015, more than 550 product executives from the most influential tour operators for African travel around the world had applied and were evaluated for their ability to bring the most business value. “Only the top 301 most influential of these gained admission to the INDABA Hosted Buyer Program,” says Slabber. “This year, that number grew by 16.3 per cent and a total of 350 of the most prominent buyers were hosted.”
SUCCESS RATE
Turkey’s only MICE show ACE of M.I.C.E. was organised for the third time with a successful buyer programme. “The show hosted 200 international and 550 local buyers during three days and 9,843 prescheduled B2B meetings were performed between buyers and exhibitors,” reveals Selin Kamil, International Relations Executive, Turizm Medya Grubu, adding that the number of Hosted Buyers has increased in comparison to the previous year and strengthened the size of business. “We select Hosted Buyers from various profiles – MICE industry professionals, corporate companies, pharmaceutical industry, associations, ministries and federations are the most preferred choices. The reason exhibitors participate in the shows is to promote and improve business by meeting right buyers. If that requirement is met with, it ultimately means more connections are made, more business is being done, and newer products are discovered.”
LESS IS MORE
The success rate of the program has in turn inspired many other shows to completely run on the same format. Connections, a closed-door B2B show promotes and recruits a network of senior professionals that come together over two days. “Our programmes are carefully designed so that buyers and suppliers can come together and forge meaningful relationships,” explains Micaela Giacobbe, Founder & Director of Commercial Events, Connections. She adds that the idea is to take away the operational side of things, in order for them not to have to think about where they need to go, who they need to meet, because their bespoke programme is pre-scheduled. The format has also been a hit because top level people interact and that’s what makes it hugely different. “What we’ve done is completely change the structure, by giving them something much more relaxed and enjoyable, so the creativity flows much more than what is, unfortunately, a normal, high pressure trade show environment.”
“The program can be very fruitful if implemented the right way. I feel many exhibitions need to vet the screening process of selecting buyers to fully reap its benefits.” VIKRAM MADHOK Managing Director Abercrombie & Kent India
“The Hosted Buyer Program works very well in engaging business and it lets vendors meet a variety of clients from all over the globe. It is a very effective tool on the whole.” KAPIL BERERA CEO Quintessentially Travel India
“The Hosted Buyer Program connects the right clients and has fruitful results mostly. What’s more, it allows the buyer to pick and choose the right partner for their business.” SHRAVAN BHALLA Proprietor High Flyer