Now, dealers pack their bags & set off on sponsored trips

BRISBANE: Its not just high fliers among staffers or loyal employees who are getting a taste of good life. Indian companies are now recognising that other stakeholders too are a key to retaining their competitive edge. Dealers are now being wooed more ardently by corporates and being taken not just to the usual hotspots but attractive destinations across the globe.

Simply put, dealers are getting upgraded. From chicken tikka in Jim Corbett, its now becoming adventure in Australia. The privileges of the dealers’ club are getting better as a host of Indian companies are rewarding them with incentive packages such as a trip to Brisbane to combine both business and leisure.

Asian Paints, which has 19,000 dealers across the country, flew down nearly 600 of them in three batches to Brisbane — Queensland’s state capital that offers world class convention facilities and extraordinary recreational experiences to take them beyond their business programme. Software major IBM held a conference at Conarad Jupiters, the first international hotel to be built on the Gold Coast.

“We treat dealers as partners in our business. At the convention, we share our corporate strategies including new product launches and the overall direction that the company is headed for. It gives them a fair idea of the year ahead.

At the same time, we are positioning this tour more as an incentive for the loyalty club and want to ensure that it matches their expectations,” Amit Syngle, general manager, Asian Paints told ET.

From a catamaran in Brisbane, the contingent was ferried across to the Tangalooma Wild Dolphin Resort — an island retreat offering over thirty nature-based experiences. They could go on a desert safari, ride a quad bike and even hand-feed fresh fish to wild dolphins. The itinerary covered a trip to Gold Coast as well, which is less than an hour’s drive from Brisbane.

Every year, over 4.2m tourists visit Gold Coast, which is the ideal base for exploring Queensland’s internationally renowned Great Barrier Reef, World Heritage Listed RainForests, surfing beaches and the vast Outback.

Travel industry experts reckon that Gold Coast is a lot customised and positioned well in terms of what Indian tourists are looking for. Last year, Hero Honda flew down 700-800 dealers to Gold Coast and Sydney. Mahindra and Mahindra’s contingent was nearly a 100, while Intas Pharma took nearly 250 dealers, said a representative of Travel Corporation (India).

The incentive packages for dealers hinges on the marketing budget of the company as well as the categories they (dealers) fall in. Some companies have loyalty or privilege clubs for dealers, which is linked to their meeting performance targets. A week long trip to Brisbane, for instance, costs less than a lakh per person and this includes stay in some of the best hotels.

“Tourist arrivals from India to Queensland are rising steadily. Over the last one year, nearly 73,000 Indian tourists have visited Queensland. We expect this number to touch at least 2,00,000 by ’20, said Paul Buggy, regional director India, Tourism Queensland.