New India tourism office opens in Sydney………………………
Last night, at what was quite rightly a very Indian affair, with fabulous Indian food from Sydney’s leading India restaurant, Surjit’s, Shanker Dhar, the charismatic Director of the Government of India Tourism Office in Australia, welcomed Australia’s travel industry leaders to the organisation’s new home right in the heart of Sydney’s CBD.
In his welcoming presentation, Shanker Dhar [Pictured right welcoming guests] said that the opening of their new office in Australia on September 11, the sixth anniversary of the World Trade Centre bombing in New York was highly appropriate as he also believed that tourism was an antidote for terrorism and this was an auspicious day for promoting tourism.
He also highlighted that in the recent Choice Awards, India had been awarded the fantastic accolade of the most favoured destination in the world, coming tenth in 2005, fourth in 2006 and now number one in 2007.
He added that India would do whatever it could to remain in that top position for many years to come and he thanked the trade and media present for all their support in achieving the award and the growth of business from Australia to India, with traffic having doubled in four years to 106,000 in 2006 and anticipated to reach 130,000 by the end of 2007.
[Pictured: Trevor Lake Glenn A Baker and Jacqui Walshe enjoy the Indian setting and food]
Shanker added that the Incredible India campaign was now 5 years old, having set the benchmark for destinations globally, as fresh today as it was when it started and he was delighted to announce that India would be the recipient of the PATA Grand Award to be presented later this month in Bali.
Shanker is clearly a devotee of the Incredible India campaign and in particular the word “Incredible” as The Mole counted that Shanker used “Incredible” 35 times in his presentation……..and why not, they have done an “Incredible” job.
He said that he believed that an office like theirs was not just bricks and mortar and that his team was critical in its success, for which he thanked them all.
The event was held in the presence of the Indian Consul General Mr. Sujan R. Chinoy, [Pictured right being welcomed by Mr Shanker Dhar] who said that he was highly supportive of the work of the Government of India Tourism Office in Sydney and in particular the “Incredible” Mr Shanker Dhar, adding that he was very optimistic about the future and that we would continue to see very strong growth in tourism to India from Australia.
Shanker Dhar closed his presentation by referring to Tourism Australia’s controversial campaign “Where the Bloody Hell are You”, adding…………”in India, where else”!
A report by The Mole
John Alwyn-Jones
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