PORTUGAL TO FOCUS ON INDIAN
FILM INDUSTRY
Turismo de Portugal to
tap Bollywood as part of destination promotion strategy
Mumbai,
10th December 2012: As part of their mandate to promote Portugal as an up-market leisure
destination, a high ranking Portuguese tourism delegation visited India led by
H. E. Cecilia Meireles, Secretary of State for Tourism. Secretary Meireles was
accompanied by H. E. Jorge Roza de Oliveira Ambassador of Portugal to India; Mr. Frederico Costa,
President of Turismo de Portugal, senior Government officials and the heads of some
of Portugal’s finest hoteliers and local tour operators.
Given
the importance and potential of the Indian market owing to its vibrant economic
status and growing number of travelers,
Turismo de Portugal (the state tourism promotion authority) conducted their
historic maiden B2B networking workshop titled ‘Portugal Experience Workshop
2012’ recently in New Delhi and Mumbai.
The
objective of this marketing initiative was to build cordial relationships between
the two countries whilst providing an impetus to inbound tourism into Portugal.
The workshops provided a platform for the Portuguese delegation to interact and
establish commercial relationships with Indian travel agents, tour operators,
wedding planners, corporate travel agencies and India’s burgeoning ‘Bollywood’
film industry professionals.
Commenting
on the maiden visit to India, H. E.
(Ms.) Cecilia Meireles, Secretary of State for Tourism of Portugal said, “We
have always felt close to India, especially on account of our historic
connection with the State of Goa. Our
maiden marketing initiative will hopefully position Portugal as leisure,
historic & cultural destination amongst the Indian travellers. Films are a wonderful
medium for showcasing a destination and all that it has to offer a first time
visitor. Bollywood which is hugely
popular not only in India is also loved by millions across the world. Thus the Indian film industry is a key target
market for us as it provides an ideal and effective platform to promote
Portugal to Indians thereby increasing tourist footfalls into Portugal.”
The
delegation met with the Indian film fraternity comprising of prominent line
producers and location coordinators associated with big production houses such
as Disney UTV, Pop Corn Entertainment Pvt. Ltd. (Sunil Shetty’s production
company), BSK
Network
and Entertainment Pvt. Ltd., (Boney and Sridevi Kapoor’s film production
company) amongst others. During the B2B
workshops in India, the delegation interacted with an impressive 500 to 600 pre-selected
Indian trade professionals that comprise major travel & tour operators,
wedding planners, golf & cruise promotional organizations in addition to
MICE operators.
H. E. Mr. Jorge Roza de Oliveira, Ambassador of Portugal to India said, “India is a very lucrative market and we are aware
of the potential ‘Bollywood’ holds in terms of driving visitors to a particular
destination. In addition, we are confident that the historic relationships
exisiting between our two countries will be given an added impetus for growth.”
Mr. Frederico Costa, President of
Turismo de Portugal commented: “We are happy with the
response that our first tourism oriented marketing visit to India has met with.
Portugal is a vibrant destination that attracts travelers from across the globe
on account of our strategic position and climatic conditions that provide the
best of Europe with the Atlantic and the Mediterranean. We hope these factors
prove lucrative to Indian film producers planning on shooting their next
Bollywood film internationally.”
The
Portuguese private sector delegation that accompanied the government officials
of Turismo de Portugal comprised of hotels, destination management companies
& tour operators. Participants
include Altis Hotels, Dom Pedro Hotels, 4 Seasons Hotel Ritz Lisbon, Martinhal
Beach Resort & Hotel, Hotel Lutecia, Pestana Group, SANA Hotels, Penha
Longa Hotel Spa & Golf Resort, Vila Gale Hotels and Thema Hotels &
Resorts. Travel companies such as AIM Group, Argon Travel, GeoStar,
Oasistravel.net, Osiris Travel, Quasar, VEGA & destination management
companies such as In Tours Portugal – DMC, Limits Incoming & Incentives –
DMC, Lusanova DMC, Mr. Travel Portugal – Luxury DMC and Vista DMC &
Emirates Airlines.
About Turismo de Portugal:
Turismo
de Portugal, I.P. is an organization that aims to foster development of
Portuguese tourism. Integrated within the Ministry of the Economy, Innovation
and Development, Turismo de Portugal is the national tourism authority
responsible for promotion, enhancement and sustainability of tourism
activities, aggregating within a single entity all the institutional
competencies related to stimulation of tourism activities, from the supply
sector to demand. Using its privilege relationship with other public bodies and
economic
agents
in Portugal and abroad, Turismo de Portugal is dedicated to fulfilling its
objective of strengthening tourism as one of the core growth engines of the
Portuguese economy.
Photo
Captions:
Image
1 - (From left to right): Operations
Manager of Turismo de Portugal - Mr. Miguel Moraes, Managing Director of
Charson Advisory - Ms. Sonalee Vaz, His Excellency Ambassador of Portugal to
India – Mr. Jorge Roza de Oliveira and Line producer – Mr. Raj Shah
Image
2 - (Left) Indian Hindi film, theatre and TV actress – Ms. Poonam Dhillon, (Centre)
Her Excellency Secretary of State for Tourism of Portugal – Ms. Cecília Meireles and (Right) His
Excellency Ambassador of Portugal to India – Mr. Jorge Roza de Oliveira
Image
3 - (From left to right): His Excellency Ambassador of Portugal to India – Mr.
Jorge Roza de Oliveira, Her Excellency Secretary of State for Tourism of
Portugal – Ms. Cecília Meireles,
Online producer - Mr. Jeetendra Chacha and Operations Manager of
Turismo de Portugal - Mr. Miguel Moraes
For
further information, please contact:
Charson
Advisory Services Pvt Ltd
1104,
Arcadia, 11th Floor, NCPA Street, Nariman Point, Mumbai 400021, INDIA
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