A promising long-haul market
Scandinavian Tourism Board organised the annual threecity Scandinavian Seminar, which included a delegation of 20 Scandinavian partners.
In a bid to engage the Indian travel trade and provide a platform to network with Scandinavian professionals from Denmark, Sweden and Norway, the annual three cities Scandinavia Seminar 2015 took place in full-swing in Delhi, Mumbai and Chennai. The delegation at the seminar included national tourism boards, regional tourism boards, hotel chains, museums, airports, cruise and voyage companies, along with DMCs, who travelled to Delhi, Mumbai and Chennai to help boost the number of Indian tourist arrivals to the region.
Mohit Batra, India Representative, Scandinavian Tourism Board, comments, “The seminar received participants that included members of senior management, product managers, business owners and front line executives. There was an opportunity to explore possible business alliances, new product development and renewing past relations. Our aim is to raise awareness of the Scandinavian region at large– but also raising awareness of what each individual countries of Denmark, Norway and Sweden have to offer,” he said. He further added, “Denmark this year has witnessed an increase of 30 per cent on overnights from India, and Sweden approximately 15 per cent on an already higher overnight base. Norway is not yet taking account of the Indian overnights but the growth seems to have been exponential,” he says.
Speaking at the occasion, Per Hotle, Market Director Tourism, Asia and New Markets, Innovation Norway, says, “Norway has 13 different UNESCO heritage sites to offer and is blessed with a plethora of natural wonders such as fjords, archipelago, the famous northern lights, the midnight sun, and a variety of Nordic cuisine that would definitely appeal to the Indian market,” he says.
Lotta Thiringer, Regional Director Growth and Development Markets, Visit Sweden, says that bednights in Sweden are rapidly increasing. “India is the third biggest long-haul market for Sweden, after the US and China,” she says. “We expect to see a minimum 15 per cent increase in the number of Indian tourists arriving by the end of next year,” she added.
Flemming Bruhn, Director, Visit Denmark also said, “We witnessed an increase of 30 per cent of Indian tourists in 2014-15. I think we will see very good figures next year as well and expect at least a 20 per cent growth.”