In a bid to promote the Visegrad Four (V4) area in India, the European Quartet (EQ) including the Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland and Slovakia recently organised their annual road show. The road show was a great opportunity for these four countries to present new tourism products, to open a new platform for new business ties and to strengthen ongoing collaborations. The representatives from the EQ shared that each of the four destinations received 30,000-35,000 overnights from India in 2013.
“The increased interest about the Visegrad area has led the EQ to aggressively tap the Indian market by organising annual workshops and campaigns. This year we have seen progressive growth and we hope that this trend will continue in the upcoming years as well. Presenting all four countries in the wider perspective of the Central European region will definitely help to improve the awareness and to intensify the ongoing promotion of the destination,” said Jan Herget, Director- Foreign Office Departments, Czech Republic Tourist Authority.
The Quartet has been working together to ensure long-term success in the fields of common interest through continued and reinforced internal cooperation. “All four countries share both historical roots and cultural traditions. However, each of the member countries has its own unique identity, in the field of architecture, art, religion, folklore and traditions or landscape,” opined KrisztinaBasca, International Market Development Manager, Hungary Tourism.
Speaking about the highlight of the campaign ‘European Quartet – One Melody’, Emilia Kubik , Project Leader- ‘I like Poland’ Campaign, Poland Tourism said that together as the Visegrad area the four countries want to promote the art and culture offers several unique UNESCO monuments, world famous spas, authentically preserved historical towns and places of natural beauty. “We are mainly targeting FIT’s, groups, honeymooners as well as business travellers,” she added.
The basic instruments for tourist promotion of the V4 countries include presentations at trade fairs, workshops, FAM and press trips, printed brochures and promotional websites. “For the Indian market in 2014, we have decided to concentrate on our annual workshops and trade training rather than consumer ad campaigns and trade fairs as we are yet to see results from this market,” he added.
