Costa Cruises, which recently set up its independent office in India, has now set its eyes on the burgeoning MICE segment from here. According to Nalini Gupta, Managing Director, Lotus Destinations, the GSA for Costa Cruises India, MICE on a Costa cruise works like clockwork, with the liner taking care of every aspect once the group boards. “Seeing how simple and efficient booking a MICE group on Costa is, we are convinced that it will become a big segment for India. We have put together a presentation and approached corporate as well, encouraging them to take it forward and choose a Costa cruise for their next event,” she said.
Gupta added that the company is further encouraged to push this segment in India by encouraging response they received last year. “We had taken a corporate group on board for an event and we thought that was that. However, that group came back and did two more events with us within the year. Word of mouth is, and always has been, our best form of marketing,” she revealed.
Speaking about source markets, Gupta stated that the western region of India is still the strongest for Costa. “We do, however, get a lot of inquiries from Bhopal, Delhi and especially south India. In fact, we plan to open an office in the south as well and are currently on the lookout for someone to look after that office,” she said.
Gupta revealed that India is still a very small market for cruising. “Only about two per cent of the numbers annually are Indian bookings. We need to get the trade familiar with Costa at every level, and address both B2B and B2C pockets to increase numbers. Moving from a PSA to appointing a GSA and then opening an independent office in India shows Costa’s commitment to the Indian market,” she concluded.
