NEW DELHI, Sept 17: The US is aiming to attract around two million visitors from India in 2018 as it undertakes a number of initiatives to promote the country as a preferred destination, a senior official of Brand USA said.
Last year, it witnessed 1.17 million arrivals from India who spent USD 13.6 billion there, positioning India at number six in terms of visitor spending in America.
“We are expecting almost two million arrivals from India in 2018. India was 11th by arrival numbers to US in 2016, but it was at number sixth in spending”, Brand USA Global Trade Development Manager Suzana Shepard Durini said.
For 2017, we are expecting a single digit growth from last year, she added.
Established by the Travel Promotion Act of 2009, Brand USA is the nation’s first public-private partnership to promote the US as a premier travel destination and to communicate the country’s visa and entry policies.
When asked about the steps the organisation is taking to promote US as a preferred destination here, Durini said programmes like India Mission and educational seminars are organised regularly.
“This year 37 companies from US with 51 delegates participated in the India Mission,” she said, adding that companies from US included those from tourism boards and hotels, tourist attractions and other services.
Brand USA will also be conducting day long educational seminars for trade across the year in various cities such as Ahmedabad, Pune and Hyderabad and Jalandhar, Durini said.
“We undertake consumer campaigns, we also do a lot of advertisements, content distribution. India is a very fast growing source market”, she added. (PTI)
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