Connectivity to Australia a must

“PATA India will work with MOT and the Sydney Tourist office to penetrate into the wholesale tour operator community in these two markets.

While retail agents are very important, wholesale agents have a vast network of their own/affiliate offices, which promote identified destinations. Air India’s arrival into the region will definitely help spur greater interest amongst travellers to visit India. We will work on some additional initiatives which are being planned to sustain and augment interest in the Incredible India product,” he points out.

Sangha also believes that India is continuously developing as an important PATA Chapter globally. Talking about the recently organised PATA Travel Mart in Manila, Sangha claims, “PATA India is the second largest chapter in the PATA network. Two-way tourism is becoming the order of the day and India has a strong potential to support this expectation. With over 14 million tourists from India and six million into India, we are becoming a significant regional player.”

According to Sangha, at PATA Travel Mart 2012, India had a mix of 44 buyers and 22 sellers. This was amongst one of the largest contingents at this premium event. “Many countries in the PATA world are eager to welcome Indian tourists ranging from middle class to affluent, as much as tourists from emerging markets like China are finding their way to India. The landscape of India’s tourism infrastructure has changed exponentially and this is helping build interest in tourism to India. We do have some challenges particularly in the aviation space, which may be transient, but Incredible India has a wealth of goodies to offer,” he adds.