Interesting Choice Of Destination

Over the years, the Indian travel associations have always drawn flak if and when they have decided to move their annual conventions out of this country. The rationale of many of the detractors has been that this country has not been showcased enough to our tour operators yet, so why showcase another competing destination; the second and more ridiculous reasoning being the loss of business to an Indian destination in terms of room nights etc, by missing out on one such convention.

Perspective

Sheldon Santwan

TAFI faced a similar situation on both occasions when they moved their annual convention out to Sri Lanka and then to Malaysia. TAAI, this year by making the brave decision of once again doing their annual convention in Malaysia, has raised the hackles of all and sundry, especially our state tourism departments. What has probably escaped most people is that the TAAI convention last year in Kochi has probably cost the same if not more than staging it in Malaysia this year, a tribute to our states’ so-called proactivity and of course our ridiculously high domestic airfares. That a country like Malaysia, which has already reaped tremendous benefits from the Indian market, has gone ahead and bent backwards to be able to stage this convention while keeping the cost at bare minimum, speaks volumes of its destination marketing strategy.

Another point most detractors would have to consider is no matter how much the country and respective state attractions are pushed today, there is only so much of tourism that we can support given the existing infrastructure. Hard to digest it may be, but we just have to acknowledge that outbound tourism from India will continue to grow at a frenetic pace whether we like it or not, which would also translate into more outbound tour operators and a total imbalance in the outbound and inbound business ratio. Given this scenario, the moving of the TAAI Annual Convention to Malaysia would seem to make perfect sense for most agents/operators whose large percentage of business is generated through the outbound segment.

The need however is for TAAI to maximise on the exposure that India could actually receive from the staging of this convention in a country like Malaysia, which is fast becoming the tourism hub of the ASEAN region (taking over from erstwhile giants like Singapore and Hong Kong). The silver lining may lie in the fact that this Convention could provide the much-needed impetus that India desperately requires in the ASEAN region if we are to receive a steady influx of tourism from the short haul destinations which should rightfully be ours.

The objective before TAAI should be to push for recognition of the Indian tourism industry and to look at creating a scenario where the existing tourism co-operation between the ASEAN + 3 (China, Japan and Korea) could now be extended to an ASEAN + 4 situation, which would include India. While the theme for this convention has been aptly titled "Regional Networking - Opportunity For Success" there has to be a realisation that this opportunity for success clearly goes both ways. While there will be a complete effort on part of countries like Malaysia and Singapore to showcase their tourism products to the Indian travel trade and gain maximum mileage, the fact that MATTA (Malaysian Association of Tour and Travel Agents) and TAAI have forged a working relationship for the staging of this convention provides a perfect opportunity for India to ensure active participation from the local associations at this event.

The resultant exposure to the Indian tourism product at the convention and concurrent exhibition, if exploited wisely, would surely lead to far greater awareness and ultimately translate into business potential for inbound tourism to the country. The time has come to take a realistic look at our options with a maturity that has so far been woefully absent in our travel industry. Jumping to conclusions and politicising issues has not helped in the past and will continue to be only a hindrance in future growth. Positive thinking is certainly welcome. The line up of international speakers, toning down of merriment and the scrapping of late night entertainment also seems to indicate that TAAI really means business this time. It’s an interesting choice of destination, now it’s up to us to make the most of it ...

Editor
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