The Growing Role of Indian Representatives in Global Tourism PR

In the early 90’s India Outbound Travel was at its nascent stage, it was aspirational but not an easy task to travel overseas, as there were lot of restrictions like limited access to Forex, selling any outbound product required permissions from Reserve Bank of India etc.

The India travel industry was also concentrating mostly in Inbound tourism and very few were involved with outbound travel. Another big factor was knowledge about destinations was also limited and major source on what to do, when to do, how to do were through limited print editions of some travel publications.

That is the time when we at TRAC set our sight on expanding the India outbound tourism footprint from India and got the Representation concept into reality. Also, we need to keep in mind that Industry at that time was driven by the Travel Agents. Our primary thoughts at that time was to make it easy for Indian Travel Trade to start selling various products like hotels, sightseeing, local transport etc to their clients apart from the airline tickets.

Representations business was an enabler, it helped overseas destinations and products in introduction process, imparting destination knowledge, product information, packaging and ease of doing business with international destinations entities. Further it helped in reaching out to consumers and engaging them with various marketing activities to enhance the demand for overseas travel to particular destination.

Countries and various products found this model very comprehensive as they were getting local insights, complete bundle of Trade Services, PR and Marketing at a reasonable value. Today nearly after over 3 decades, Representation in India has become an industry in itself. Representation companies are mushrooming but it would not be wrong to say that the business model called Representation is gradually being losing its value proposition.??

As over the period India is seen as one of the major Outbound Travel market, and has established its footprints in various overseas destinations, more and more countries and products are reaching out to India and adopting the representation model to suit their needs. While local expertise is always providing an edge and there are various other factors that is helping in expanding representation business in India. However, it’s just a suggestion one needs to be very careful while making the selection and it is always good to check the background and what has been delivered earlier.

Key Points:

1)????? Strategic Shift in Tourism Public Relations

The days of one type of communication fits all are almost over. There is a visible shift in PR approach and distinction between traditional and new age PR. There is a blend of Macro and Micro (local level) approach. While Press Releases are being adopted to local needs, social media post is being worked at both international as well as local levels, while there is lot of emphasis on engaging local influencers. In India some NTO’s (National Tourism Offices) have also started using different languages to penetrate deep into Indian markets. PR in India is no more limited to metro cities but is also reaching out to growing consumers in Tier – I, II and III cities.

2)????? Local Expertise and Cultural Knowledge

Local expertise helps in enhancing the reach of not only PR but also creates a better connect with travel trade and able to service them and provide insights on regular basis. The understanding of local preferences allows key messaging to reach and resonate deeply with potential consumers as well as travel trade. Local connect through representation and PR agencies help is better understanding of the market requirements and help in creating bridge between the various service providers and travel trade.

3)????? Easy Access to a thriving market

India is among the fastest growing outbound market and it is estimated that nearly 30 million people travelled overseas during the year 2024, surpassing the pre-covid highs. Local agency not only assures easy access but also creates and adapt narratives that are more acceptable and encourage people to travel to new destinations and try new activities etc.

4)????? Cost-effectiveness

Representation is a cost-effective option in comparison to establishing own office or hiring an international agency. Its cost-effective in terms of administrative costs, marketing costs and also from existing knowledge and know-how of functioning and established network.

5)????? Advantages

Ready to go within the shortest period of time. Representative Companies can provide quick start and results. They also have ability to connect the product to various traveller’s segments in shortest period of time.

Over the period various tourism entities have shown keen interest towards hiring the services of local representative companies and we feel this trend will further grow in times to come. This model brings in local expertise, network, low administrative costs thus creating scope for higher spends on marketing and PR activities. However, there is a caution one must consider and that is knowing through details about the entity that you intend to work with, so you don’t end up being “penny wise and pound foolish”.

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