Tourism promotion agencies of United States recently participated in a two city roadshow in India to create awareness about their tourism profile
According to Dean Jacobberger, Director of Travel Trade, Visit California, the state received 194,000 Indian visitors in 2011, an increase of five per cent from the 184,000 Indian arrivals recorded in 2010. With this, India is ranked as the eighth largest source market for them. Currently, California has a 29 per cent market share in the overall Indian arrivals to US. “We expect to maintain the growth momentum from India and have consistently been investing on educating the travel trade here about our unique tourism offerings,” he said. He informed that the average spend of an Indian traveler is US$ 1,579 per person and the average length of stay is 20.5 nights in California.
To push numbers from India, Visit California will continue to focus on expanding and strengthening the Indian travel industry’s destination knowledge through product training seminars, online trainings and selling resources. “We have been conducting training seminars in both India’s metros and smaller cities like Kolkata, Ahmedabad, Hyderabad, Pune, Lucknow, Chandigarh and Jallandhar,” he informed.
During the 2011 mission, Visit California introduced the ‘California Expert’ online training program tailored specifically for India’s travel agents. Since launching the program, 1,488 agents across India have registered and 45 per cent have completed the basic program to become certified California Experts, revealed a statement released by Sartha Marketing, Visit California’s representative office in India.
Attending the mission for the third time in a row, Svetlana Yazovskikh, International Tourism Sales Manager, Philadelphia Convention & Visitors Bureau, said that Indian traffic to Philadelphia touched 18,000 in 2011, making it the 10th largest source market for them. She added that the Bureau may look at stationing someone to promote the product in India. Philadelphia Convention & Visitors Bureau is also focusing on tapping the student segment from India.
San Francisco Travel Association, third time participants in the mission, has also recorded tremendous growth from the Indian market. “Angela Jackson, Director, Media Relations International, San Francisco Travel Association, said, “Visitors from India may double in the next one year. We have closely interacted with the travel trade, and are now equipped to sell San Francisco in India more confidently,” she revealed.
