Targeting UK market for Goa
Martin Joseph, MD, Freedom Holidays, believes in promoting a destination rather than the company because if the destination gets business, everyone else does too.
QHow important is the World Travel Market for you?
This show is very important for us as well as the destination. We promote Goa as a destination and it is an absolute sellout destination among British and European tourists; they come in large numbers. WTM is one way in which we are reaching out to the international market. As far as Goa is concerned, the English-speaking market has picked up. The UK market was number one a couple of years ago but the Russians came and took that spot. The UK market is now coming back in a strong way and we expect good growth from there.
QWhat are your focus areas for the inbound market for 2017? Since the UK and European markets are a huge source for us and Goa as a whole, we have trained our focus on these markets at the moment. We will soon move to other markets like South America, Canada, China, Korea, Singapore and Malaysia as they show a lot of promise. Our strategy is to do aggressive promotion through forthcoming travel exhibitions as well as social media.
QHow has 2016 been for you so far? By God's grace we have done very well because we worked hard for some of our businesses and we don't sit and cry over spilt milk, we keep on trying all the time. We don't promote our company but we promote the destination like Goa because if the destination gets business we will all get business. Prime Minister Narendra Modi is like a brand ambassador for India and this will definitely help in getting more foreign tourists. Countries around the world are looking at India now and are keen on exploring it.
The UK market was number one a couple of years ago but the Russians came and took that spot. The UK market is now coming back in a strong way and we expect good growth from there