- “We have received over 90,000 travelers from India in the first 5 months of this year, which is 2.7 times the number we received in 2023” – Florian Sengstschmid
- “Right now, the information on the Azerbaijan in the Indian market is very limited. So the most important thing for us will be the product development – educating the trade and consumers on the various destinations & experiences within the country, as well as encouraging longer stays and itineraries.” – Lubaina Sheerazi
The Azerbaijan Tourism Board joins hands with BRANDit, conducts a press conference in Mumbai, India on June 7th. The event marked the unveiling of an important update, announcing BRANDit as the new representative office in India. During the event, Florian Sengstschmid, CEO of the Azerbaijan Tourism Board, and Lubaina Sheerazi, CEO of BRANDit, shared their insights and future plans for enhancing Azerbaijan’s visibility in the Indian market.
Talking about the response received from India market, Sengstschmid mentions “Travelers numbers are at its peak, we have received over 90,000 travelers from India in the first 5 months of this year, which is 2.7 times the number we received in 2023. It shows that the number of leisure travelers are intensively increasing. We are also getting extended weekend trips, both from Mumbai and Delhi, and this is a big achievement for us. Azerbaijan is now closer than ever, not just geographically, but also emotionally and culturally. We are appreciating the close ties between India & Azerbaijan, and the increasing numbers show that the offerings of Azerbaijan in terms of quality, price and experiences connect very well with India market.”
Sharing further strategy and plans on positioning Azerbaijan as a destination in India, Sheerazi mentions, “We are not reinventing the strategy, rather we would work more closely with the travel trade in an integrated and deeper manner. The community is large and not just restricted to the metro cities, but also Tier II cities. Right now, the information on Azerbaijan in the Indian market is very limited. So the most important thing for us will be the product development – educating the trade and consumers on the various destinations & experiences within the country, as well as encouraging longer stays and itineraries. But for that we must sit with travel trade and understand how the itineraries can also match the preferences of the evolved travelers in India. Also, alongside product development, we want to also increase the length of stay of an Indian traveler. Travelers don’t need to come to only Baku for 3 nights, where they can really spent 7 days doing different things in Azerbaijan, according to their interest, whether it involves sports, wellness retreat, leisure, or anything else.”
Sheerazi further adds that the approach is tapping all segments of India market, as Indian travelers are across segments and we want to capture every single aspect of the destination. Further when asked about events lined up in terms of strengthening ties with Indian travel trade, Sheerazi adds, “We are currently conducting roadshows across three cities in India: Bangalore, Pune, and today in Kolkata as well. Many people from the private sector in Azerbaijan are here in India to meet with the travel trade through pre-scheduled B2B meetings. Moving forward, we will be participating in trade shows, along with planning some educational trips.”
BRANDit to represent Azerbaijan in India, conducts 3-city B2B roadshows
