The Scandinavian Tourist Board (STB) is expecting an accelerated growth from India market with Air India’s direct connectivity between Delhi and Stockholm and Copenhagen. “We have witnessed a robust growth year on year from India. We are now trying to improve the quality of products. All our partners realized that Indians are now willing to consume the best of the products provided we offer them. We have seen increase in tourism on self drive and honeymooners. The region currently receives around 350,000 rooms nights in a year from India and it is probably going to grow with an average 10 per cent,” Mohit Batra, India Representative, STB said on the sidelines of a roadshow in New Delhi. The Tourism Board of Denmark, Norway and Sweden attended the roadshow.
According to him, Air India’s direct service to the region is further going to push the numbers. “The feedback is that Air India has been running close to full flights. A large number of companies already contracted with Air India for summer season and that will bring higher numbers. For example, MakeMyTrip had five departures this year and the next year they are looking at 20,” he said.
With direct connectivity, Denmark, which received 82,000 room nights last year from India reflecting a growth of 11 per cent, has launched five different signature routes with each routes offering five to seven days itineraries. “Generally visitors come and visit Copenhagen but we have so much to offer. The numbers from India is slightly on lower side due to demonetisation here and the hotels in Copenhagen are fully booked this year. We are working on this and 20 per cent more hotel rooms coming up in the next 2 years,” said Flemming Bruhn, Director, Visit Denmark.
Sweden is also eyeing a big growth from India. “We have received an 18 per cent increase in the number of Indian tourists this year. We have got 176,000 visitors from India last year. It is increasing every year and month. We have registered a 35 per cent increase in tourism in August this year compared to the corresponding month last year,” Rutth Dolla, Project Manager-India, Visit Sweden, said explaining that Air India has literally bridged both the psychological and the distance gap between India and Scandinavia. “Psychologically, people feel that Sweden is too far from India. In reality, Sweden is closer than London, and takes lesser flying time,” she added.
Norway has also been witnessing a double digit growth in Indian arrivals. “We do not know exactly the number but around 22-25,000 Indian visited last year. Most of the trip by Indians to Northern Europe is 10-12 days and half of the days are in Norway. We see a lot of Indians coming to Norway in shoulder seasons and winters. It is definitely a growing market for us,” said Kristian B Jorgensen, Adm. Director/CEO, Fjord Norway, opined.
Talking about the promotional activities, Batra said that STB India Office has been very active on social media. “We have around 45,000 followers on social media, facebook and instagram. We also launched a website and we will see more such initiatives in future,” he added.
