Brand USA believes that SATTE is the most appropriate platform to create a buzz in the Indian travel and tourism market
Jay Gray, Vice President, Partnership Development, Brand USA, was recently in India with 50 delegates representing 35 US destinations and companies to create awareness about USA’s diverse tourism destinations and products. This was the first ever travel mission organised by Brand USA in India. The last five India missions were organised by the US Travel Association. “We are targeting launching a big US pavilion at SATTE 2013. We aim to have a large delegation from US at the event,” said Gray.
“Travel to USA continues to grow every year and the US is well positioned as a preferred leisure destination for Indian travellers. Participation at the India Mission has been growing each year, which is an indication of the growing interest from the US suppliers for the Indian market,” Sheema Vohra, President, Sartha Marketing Consultants, said, and added that there is still need to educate the travel agents on the several products that USA offers.
Elaborating further on the India plan, Gray said that Brand USA, the public-private venture, has chalked out a series of promotional plans to push Indian arrivals to US. “We have already been getting a lot of business travellers from India and we will push for more visitors from this segment too,” he said. To achieve the target, Brand USA will roll out various promotional campaigns on television, radio, social networking sites and by educating tour operators and travel agents, he revealed.
He also informed that Brand USA plans to open an office in India in the next few months. “Brand USA will be setting up a representative office in India this year to handle its promotions and coordinate with tour operators to design itineraries and jointly market destinations. We are also planning to have joint promotional activities with the travel trade with mutual benefits,” he divulged. India will be Brand USA’s fourth overseas office after Germany, Britain and Japan.
