It’s time to live it up!
Arshdeep Anand, Executive Member, Outbound Tour Operators Association of India (OTOAI), shares her views on current outbound travel and member engagement activities at OTOAI.
In the post-pandemic world, there is a huge pent-up demand for outbound travel. The comeback is much faster than expected, warranting delays in visa processing. People want to live in the present and not wait till after.
“There is a lot of demand for bucketlist tourism, like watching the spectacle of Northern lights on board a luxury cruise. There are many new offers and options available today which encourage people to pay after their holidays are over, which is a big attraction. There is a demand for more active, experiential, and sustainable travel as today’s traveller is more responsible. The focus has shifted to more about tasting the local cuisines and living the experiences like a local. The operators should look at generating revenues by selling less trodden journeys, using concept properties, and offering local or farm fresh foods enabled with technology. It’s time to live it up,” expresses Arshdeep.
Air connectivity is also the biggest boost to the success of any tourism destination.
Arshdeep says, “Recent initiative by Vietnam to start direct flights between various cities of India and Vietnam has jumped up the number of travellers visiting Vietnam. Every destination which has direct flight connectivity does wonderfully well. Direct flights generate volumes for MICE movement to the destination, etching its success story.”
According to Arshdeep, the UAE generated a lot of interest due to its ease of travel and myriad offers. Visa on arrival and e-visa offered by Vietnam and Malaysia are also game changers. FIFA has made Qatar the current hot destination.
The wait time for the visas has created havoc in the entire industry and acted as a dampener this holiday season. “OTOAI has been continuously writing to embassies and consulates to ease visa processes. Among other things, this pandemic has certainly taught us a lesson to not put all eggs in the same basket. It would be advisable to look at other destinations which are quite aggressively promoting themselves, such as Oman, Dubai, Mauritius, Vietnam, and Malaysia,” emphasises Arshdeep.
After almost a two-year hiatus, OTOAI recently organised a networking meet in Mumbai, which was a great success. “We had another one in Chennai which was a focussed affair with members sharing their valuable insights. New members are being added every day, hence new opportunities for collaborating. OTOAI has held very informative virtual sessions with VFS. Destination training workshops with Switzerland and Atout France have been conducted. We have brought back the physical destination training workshops with Korea Tourism Sales Mission, held in Chennai and Kolkata,” informs Arshdeep.