ON April 1, every state capital in India will stage an opening ceremony to mark the beginning of Visit India Year. They will be the first of hundreds of special events to be held across the country between April 1999-March 2000.
One example is the 1,000th anniversary of the Kharjuraho Temples, a World Heritage site in central India, where music, film and dance festivals are planned throughout the year.
To coincide with Visit India Year, the Government of India Tourist Office is planning a series of UK promotions.
Latest figures show that India held its own in the UK market for 1998, despite intense competition from the Far East. The number of UK travellers for the first eight months of the year reached 231,178 – a 3.5% rise on the same period the previous year.
Newly-appointed UKdirector of the GITO, Alka Kohli, said: “There is a lot of potential in the UK market. People are aware of India as a tourist attraction. We want to build on that.”
A new advertising campaign entitled, ‘India. Come Awaken Your Senses’, was launched last month in national press and specialist travel magazines. Kohli said it had already drawn a huge response.To build on this, Kohli is planning a second campaign in March, highlighting the lesser-known attractions, such as India’s wildlife and the untouched islands of Lakshadweep, off the west coast.
“First-time visitors always go to Delhi, Agra and Jaipur, but that’s not all India has to offer,” he said.
“It is a vast and diverse country. We want to promote the three southern states of Kerala, Karnataka and Tamil Nadu. All of these have a fantastic mix of beaches, temples and wildlife.”
In particular, the so-called Emerald Triangle region, comprising Goa, Cochin and the Lakshadweep islands, all of which are connected by air, will be spotlighted, together with the northeast. This a relatively undeveloped area of lush jungle, rivers and tea plantations.
Kohli added: “A tour of the Green Triangle in the northeast would take in Guwahati, the capital of Assam; Shillong in Meghalaya; and the Kasiranga National Park, famous for the one-horned rhino.”
With white-water rafting, jungle treks, mountaineering and fishing all available, this region represents a new opportunity for operators specialising in adventure tourism, according to Kohli.
He is also aiming to pay more attention to Scotland and Ireland markets.
“Of the 375,000 annual UK visitors, some 40% are from London and the Southeast compared with 4.5% from Scotland and only 1% from Ireland,” said Kohli.
One activity being planned for Scotland is an Indian festival staged in conjunction with Air-India and The India Tea Board. It will be held in Edinburgh in August, during Edinburgh Festival week, and is likely to transfer to Belfast later in the year.
India tourist office link-ups with specialist Asian media in the UK is also being planned to target young British Indian professionals who have never visited their parents or grandparents’ homeland.
“There has never been any targeted marketing for this group,” said Kohli.