Prasenjit Chakraborty - Mumbai Oman-based Eihab Travels in association with its India representative SSR Travel Solutions (SSRTS) organised a roadshow in Mumbai recently. Eihab Travels is one of the largest DMCs in Oman and has intensified their focus on the India market.
Speaking to TravelBiz Monitor on the sidelines of the event, Dinesh Poojary, General Manager, Eihab Travels, said that India offers tremendous opportunity as a source market for Oman. “Oman is a different kind of a destination when compared with the GCC (Gulf Cooperation Council) countries. It is more inclined towards nature and the country is called Switzerland of the GCC,” pointed out Poojary. He also mentioned that travellers possessing visas from the UK, US, Japan, Australia, and Schengen countries can easily enter the country. “One will get free entry for 10 days if they have a valid visa from any of these countries,” Poojary said.
He also said that they offer a round trip which starts from Muscat, and takes travellers to the outskirts where they can enjoy desert, mountains etc. “The round trip package is for 5 and 6 nights,” he said.
As far as the target segment is concerned, Eihab Travels focuses more on MICE, wedding, family and FIT from India. “We are promoting Oman as a luxury destination in India,” Poojary said. He also stated that they were focusing on the Indian market earlier also but not on this scale. “We have intensified our focus on this market as it has immense potential. The outbound figure of India is quite impressive,” Poojary stated. Right now, their target cities are Hyderabad, Chennai, Bengaluru and Mumbai. “In the next phase our target will be the North Indian cities and Kolkata. We target quality not quantity. Moreover, Oman does not believe in mass tourism,” pointed out Poojary.
Bainu Thomas, Manager-Operations, Eihab Travels, said that it is high time to increase focus on this market. “We have been very strong in the European market for a long time but of late we realised the potential of the Indian market. We are deciphering the trade that Oman is unique and different as a destination when compared with the GCC countries. Oman’s hospitality is also well known,” he said.
Sapneal Rao, Founder & CEO, SSRTS, said that their focus is to get luxury products in India. “We have been associated with Eihab Travels for more than 9 months and have received encouraging responses from the travel trade fraternity. We are identifying for them agents who cater to the luxury segment,” said Rao. He also added that after bringing them (Eihab travels) to the forefront, the four-city roadshow was organised. Besides Mumbai, they have conducted roadshows in Chennai, Bengaluru and Hyderabad. “Our next target will be Tier-II and III cities from where Oman Air operates flights,” Rao said.
They will soon organise a familiarisation trip where agents and wedding planners will participate. “The familiarisation trip is to showcase the destination, and we hope the business will grow significantly in the next year,” said a confident Rao.
