Stic Group to help Indian tourism sector boost traffic

SINGAPORE: New Delhi-based Stic Travel Group is setting up a global network of marketing offices to boost the tourist traffic into India.


"We are going to establish a marketing representative office each in Indonesia, Malaysia, Brunei, Hong Kong, Thailand and Philippines in the coming months," Stic chairman Subhash Goyal told PTI today.

Stic had set up its international headquarters in Singapore in March this year, and it is now planning a wide range of Indian tour packages for Asian tourists, he said.

He was speaking on the sidelines of the ongoing ITB Asia, an annual international trade show of tours and tourism businesses being held from 23-25 October here.

Marketing offices will also be set up in China and Sri Lanka in the multi-phase expansion plan, with African regional office in Addis Ababa, followed by offices in London and the United States.

"We are also working out Asian tour packages for Indian tourists to travel across Asia," added Richa Goyal Sikri, director for group business development in the Singapore office.

She said the broad plans were needed to attract Southeast Asian tourists to India, given the close cultural links and proximity of the region.

"We aim to increase our volume of tourists being brought into India to 50 per cent in the coming years from the current 40 per cent," Sikri said.

She further said 60 per cent of the group's international tourists visiting India came from Europe and the United States.

"But we have to promote India to more Asian tourists, tour operators and travel agencies," she added.

Going forward, Stic Group would like to raise its international sales revenue, mostly from the Asian emerging markets, by 20 per cent a year on the current annual sales of Rs 600 crores, Goyal added.

Besides the scenic destinations, India offers a wide range of spiritual tours as being the land of Buddha, which will especially appeal to oriental tourists from Asia, said Goyal.

India also has a wide range of yoga and ayurvedic treatment centres, which are becoming more and more popular among Asians.

Stic has already lined up group tours of Asian tourists into India for the next two months and was working on a number of others early next year.

For Indian tourists, Southeast Asia offers unexplored destinations on Borneo, and high-end holiday resorts in Malaysia, Indonesia, Thailand and Philippines, added Sikri.

Sikri also plans to build on Indian students and youth educational tour markets, having recently hosted some 40 students in the region.