No storm in this tea cup
After the 104-day strike in Darjeeling, the region is gradually springing back to life with agents and tour operators receiving a good number of bookings till June, informs trade at Bengal Travel Mart 2018, held in Siliguri.
The event is a great opportunity to establish partnerships with companies selling products of West Bengal. We’d like to extend thanks to all the partners who made the exhibition successful. We have been introduced to new areas and services to which we previously did not have access to. I have been particularly intrigued by the myriad tourism products that Bhutan has to offer. BTM was a great forum to expand the geography of sales of the exhibition’s participants.
The mart was organised well. I was looking forward to having more hoteliers rather than having so many of ground operators. Everybody here is selling the same destinations, so there's nothing new and different. The organisers could have got somebody from the attractions segment, like the Darjeeling zoo or someone from the tea garden. Even if we don't directly deal with them, our interaction with them could have helped us better sell the destination. The products and offerings at the mart were quite repetitive.
We were expecting a good number of hotel participants at the event but it turned out quite the contrary. There was almost no hotel from Kalimpong, except that of Mayfair Hotels & Resorts. We want to book all categories of hotels, ranging from budget stay to that of luxury. Nearly 70 per cent of the exhibitors at BTM were travel agents and tour operators. With Siliguri being a stopover destination, more hotels were expected to participate as tourists mostly spend a night here and then proceed further to nearby destinations like Darjeeling, Gangtok and other places.
The regional mart was a great opportunity for us to know the taste and preferences of the local people here in Bengal. Having a base in Delhi, it is important for us to get an idea of what type of services are being provided in the region to identify the local suppliers. I found some interesting products in inbound, some trekking routes, hiking places and some homestay which will help me to promote my adventure market.
BTM was a good platform for networking with agents and industry professionals. However, there was a lack of the presence of hoteliers whom we could have approached to get better rates. It is important for us to know and identify the hotelier and who we are dealing with. Whenever we book a hotel, we don’t get the best rates; so we don’t have any other way than to book through a travel agent who has previously been contacted. We, therefore, need a right person to contact and inform us about the rates.
BTM is a great platform to meet agents from across the country and be aware of the best rates. The agents who are sharing B2B prices are good as the main aim of my visit here is to find out the best prices in the industry. This is my first time at BTM and I am keen on visiting the event again next year. Gathering information from agents is important as without the B2B rates, we cannot afford to run our business.