For Tourism New Zealand, India is the 10th largest source market for the year ending February 2013. According to Mischa Mannix-Opie, Regional Manager – South & South East Asia at Tourism New Zealand, what makes India an important market is the ‘season’ or timing of arrivals from India. Although the luxury travel market in India is still in a nascent stage, it is worth US$ 4.6 billion and is growing at an impressive rate of 25 to 30 per cent annually (AT Kearney).
“Our total arrivals from India for the year ending February 2013 were 29,872 (+4.1.7 per cent) and holiday arrival figures for the year ending February 2013 were 15,056 (+14.9 per cent). We are recording a steady growth in arrivals from India and are expecting this trend to continue,” Mannix- Opie opined.
Tourism New Zealand runs on a three Year Marketing Plan cycle which ends in June. “We are currently developing our next three Year Marketing Plan which will take effect from 1 July 2013,” she said. Mannix- Opie further revealed that Tourism New Zealand will continue with its marketing efforts focusing on the honeymoons, families and business events (incentives) sectors. Elaborating on the experiences offered by New Zealand, Mannix- Opie said, “We receive a lot of queries regarding events, food and wine tours, Maori cultural experiences, walks, self-drives and of course adventure sports. The Great Barrier Island walking festival has received strong interest among Indians,” she said adding that the luxury holiday market is another segment we aim to leverage.
Tourism New Zealand works with a range of commercial partners in the India market. “We have significant partnerships with Singapore Airlines and Malaysia Airlines where we work together in joint advertising campaigns. We also work with a range of travel agent partners in joint marketing campaigns. Currently, we have live campaigns with Thomas Cook, Make My Trip, ezeego1.com and work with other travel agent partners throughout the year,” Mannix- Opie said.
“Our trade partners are an important part of our strategy and we are training them to grow their selling capability by overhauling the Kiwi Specialist retail training programme Under the newly named ‘100% Pure New Zealand Specialist Programme’, and introducing more incentives for travel agents,” she opined.
