Outbound

'Cyprus expects not less than 15,000 Indian visitors in the initial stage'

Prasad Shirke, sales & marketing manager, Cyprus Tourism Organisation (Middle East & Arabian Gulf Office) says that Cyprus is yet to actively promote itself in the India market. By Andrea Lopez

What kind of potential do you see in the Indian market?

Tremendous. Today most of the NTO's want to station themselves in India to attract potential travellers to their respective countries. Cyprus is a destination which can cater to Indian travellers due to its rich history, culture and the Mediterranean climate.

How do you plan to operate more actively in this market?

We have not yet actively stepped into marketing Cyprus' products to the Indian market, except for attending road shows related to FIT and MICE in Mumbai, Delhi, Bengaluru and Hyderabad. Once we kick off our marketing campaign in India, we will target both FIT and MICE traffic to Cyprus. We are more inclined to target incentive groups as India is one of the biggest markets generating incentive groups with large numbers and yield. Although we have not yet made our presence felt in the Indian market, it was good to know from our travel trade partners in Cyprus that they have started receiving groups from India. There are certain plans in the pipeline for this market, however it is too early to talk about them.

Which are your primary markets?

We receive the highest number of visitors from our top three traditional markets which are UK, Germany and Greece. The Middle East and Gulf is an emerging market for us and we are receiving positive numbers year after year. Political instability and crisis in some Middle Eastern nations will continue to affect the travel patterns of visitors.

What are the volumes you are looking at from India?

Considering the present scenario of outbound travellers from India, Cyprus will look forward to receiving not less than 15,000 visitors in the initial stage.

Will air connectivity pose a problem?

We do not have direct airline connectivity out of India to Cyprus, and it could be the biggest hurdle in receiving large numbers. But as we see the remarkable growth of aviation in India and with more options of private airlines, we will be able to get direct connectivity to our international airport in Larnaca. However there are excellent connections via the Gulf countries that ensure easy access to our island. Cyprus is the closest gateway to other European destinations and this will certainly work in our favour to acquire more flights from India.

How do you plan to build your association with the trade here?

So far we have been attending a couple of travel-related exhibitions in the metro cities to build relations with the trade and understand their working pattern. At present we have started co-operating with Cox & Kings and we aim to work with more Indian partners.