SINGAPORE, 23 March 2021: The India Tourism office, Singapore, organised a series of Webinars, India Tourism Reconnects for a B2B audience in the key ASEAN markets of The Philippines, Malaysia and Singapore.
The events reached out to stakeholders in key markets and initiating conversations and discussions once the reopening of markets gets underway. Participation involved the respective Indian Missions, India Tourism and the private stakeholders representing specific tourism products.
Following the webinars, 17 seller-participants from India, which included state tourism departments, leading Indian hotels and destination management companies, interacted with the local trade in one-to-one B2B sessions.
The series kick-started with the first webinar cum B2B session for the Philippines travel industry, 11 March. H.E. Shri Shambhu S. Kumaran, Ambassador of India to the Philippines, presented the opening remarks, identifying the huge fascination and admiration for Indian culture, food as well as the holistic Indian way of healthcare, including Ayurveda and Yoga.
More than 60 members of the Malaysian travel trade interacted with around 17 sellers from India during the second virtual B2B and webinar session on 16 March 2021. The Deputy High Commissioner of India to Malaysia, Archana Nair stated that the timely initiative of the webinar would serve to attract Malaysian visitors to India as and when travel resumes. As the world emerges from the pandemic, there is a definite optimism that the travel industry will bounce back, she noted.
The final event in the series, 18 March, focused on tourism to India from Singapore, reaching out to travel trade stakeholders. H.E. Shri P. Kumaran, High Commissioner of India to Singapore, elaborated on the potential and opportunities that could be tapped to attract discerning Singaporean travellers once the tourism traffic resumes.
During each of the webinars, India Tourism Singapore recognised that while normal international travel had still to resume, there had been an upswing in the confidence of domestic travellers in India over the last few months and several destinations had once more seen a high volume of domestic tourists.
Presentations were also given by representatives of Indian luxury hotel groups such as The Taj and the Oberoi, as well as the Indian Association of Tour Operators on the various steps taken by the tourism industry in India during the pandemic and their preparations for receiving foreign tourists once the borders reopen.
Over 300 virtual meetings convened between Indian and foreign tour operators and stakeholders during the series prompting participating organisations to express confidence that the webinars had successfully reconnected stakeholders and taken business relationships forward.
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