Many centuries past a nameless man lovingly called his country Sone ki Chiriya (Golden Bird) and today when that man’s bones have long been interred to dust that term of endearment still holds true. A shining example of this was brought to light at the recently held International LuxuryTravel Market, Asia (ILTMA) held in Shanghai, China.

Candid India, representative of ILTM in India, guided 53 outbound luxury travel buyers to a successful rendezvous with various purveyors of inbound luxury travel from the Asia-Pacific region. The fact that India still holds all its charm and glory was further strengthened by the sheer number of players from the world’s travel market vying to get a stake in the Indian market.

Seeing the rapid growth of the Indian market it has become increasingly necessary for the industry at large to understand the varied cultures and mindsets in the country in order to be able to deliver the appropriate standard of service to all concerned. Towards this end an educational programme was held at ILTM Asia on 4 June.

This seminar titled What Motivates The Indian Traveller highlighted movements of the Indian luxury traveller and the driving force behind their choice of destinations. Speakers also focused on what can be done by the market to entice the Indian traveller and the incentives and services that the Indian traveller looks for. Panellists at this seminar were  Seemaa Makhija, MD, Travel Voyages; Ashwini Kakkar, EVP, Mercury Travel, Sushil Wadhwa, Chairman & Managing Director of Platinum World Group, all of whom have done ground breaking work in promoting the Indian luxury outbound market.

India’s outbound travel market is not just expected to boom but boom in style with experts predicting travellers from India alone to hit 50 million by 2020. The market has also got a boost from a new demographic that had previously been only a spot on the luxury market, the traveller in the 20s to 30s age bracket.

Thus, looking at the current market situation and planning for a bigger future Candid India will also be taking 40-45 luxury buyers to the International Luxury Travel Market, Cannes. ILTM Cannes has been a leader in promoting luxury travel for over a decade now and this year too will showcase the very best and brightest in the world of luxury travel.

By Guneet Puri

Candid India