DRMumbai: Giving the tourism sector in the country a shot in the arm, reports have found that the outbound and inbound travel from and to India has been on the steady rise. As per research reports, in 2017, Indian travellers took three leisure trips and two in five Indians took international trips. This was clearly reflected at the AccorHotels Showcase 2018, which witnessed participation from 35 hotels and resorts from the global network along with 22 hotels from India.
The day-long event in Mumbai and New Delhi was packed with networking sessions where customers discovered the group’s newest offerings and met with hotel representatives from across the region. The event was an ideal platform to discuss how to work together to benefit from the burgeoning travel market. The delegates were representing India’s top-most travel agents, wholesalers, corporate clients, tourism partners and MICE organisers. This was the largest-ever AccorHotels Showcase event in the Asia Pacific.
The event saw representation from the marquee hotels, namely, Raffles Dubai and Saudi Arabia, RIXOS Turkey, Fairmont Ajman, SO Sofitel Bangkok Singapore, Novotel Amsterdam City and Novotel Amsterdam Schiphol Airport, Pullman Paris Eiffel Tower, Swissôtel, The Bosphorus Istanbul and Fairmont Dubai.
One of the key takeaways from the event was the fact that MICE was showing a visible rise globally with multiple events being held internationally, and also in India. Furthermore, with increasing globalisation and Indian corporates opening offices around the world, the hospitality industry has seen traction for corporate travel – both inbound and outbound.
On the success of the event, Arif Patel, Vice President Sales, Marketing, Distribution & Loyalty, AccorHotels, said, “By 2020, Indian outbound travel is estimated to reach 48 million and foreign tourist arrival is forecasted to cross the 10-million mark. Today, Indians are expanding their travel maps and are travelling beyond countries like Thailand, Singapore or Dubai to Turkey, Amsterdam, Ajman, Paris, New Zealand and Spain.”
“This annual event gives an opportunity for our attendees to engage with AccorHotels representatives from around the world to see how best we can work together given the opportunities in the market. Besides, it is overwhelming to see how the AccorHotels’ brands have been accepted positively, especially our luxury brands – Raffles, Fairmont and RIXOS overall and the Fairmont and RIXOS for weddings.”
The most respected and highly anticipated hotel exhibition, the AccorHotels Showcase, is a signature event on the AccorHotels calendar and provides an exclusive platform to discover accommodation trends, news and stunning hotels and resorts from around the world.
