Film successes draw Indians

Tourism New Zealand has mounted a promotional push in India, partly based on the cinematic success of the Lord of The Rings and a locally filmed Bollywood blockbuster.

"New Zealand's profile in both Bollywood and Hollywood means New Zealand enjoys probably its highest-ever profile in the Indian travellers' mind," said Tourism New Zealand's country manager for India, Kiran Nambiar.

The country was perceived as a scenic, safe and friendly destination, he said.

The promotion, Kiwi Link India, is run as a trade show in which Indian travel agents are given space and the New Zealanders circulate around the tables with individual pitches.

The first show gathered 20 big tour operators from India and 16 tourism business from New Zealand.

Air New Zealand and Air Malaysia are partners in the promotion, which was launched at New Delhi this week by the New Zealand High Commissioner to India, Caroline McDonald.

This promotion will also be run in Bangalore today and in Bombay on Monday.

Mr Nambiar said a "Kiwi" touch had been added to the promotion with a Maori welcome.

"The Kiwi link becomes a very interactive event due to their [Maori] presence as they make the programme extremely interesting with their dance and song ... exhibiting a slice of Kiwi culture," Mr Nambiar said.

There had also been special screenings of the third Rings film, The Return of the King, in Bombay, and cinema screenings of the movie have been used for tourism advertisements.

Aarti Chawla, an executive of Indian travel agency Dewan Worldwide, said the Indian tourism market in New Zealand had seen a phenomenal growth in the past two or three years.

Her own company was sending 15 to 20 Indians every month during the period from October to May.

"But in December, the peak month of the tourist season, the number goes to between 40 and 50," she said.

Mahinder Kumer Tirath, the manager of another agency, Horizons, said the rise in numbers of Indian tourists to New Zealand had been boosted by the resounding success of the movie Kaho Na Pyaar Hai, starring Hritik Roshan.

He said another film, Main Pyaar Ki Diwani, was being shot in New Zealand and film producers from Chennai and Hyderabad were also scouting for locations.

Mr Nambiar said in the board's Tourism News, published yesterday, that India's middle class was expanding to around 300 million people, with potential for the economy to grow to the world's third-largest, after China and the United States.

Some economic sectors in India were experiencing growth rates of 20 per cent, and this had put more disposable income in the pockets of the middle class.

In 2000, about four million Indians travelled overseas, spending US$380 million ($568 million).

By next year the number travelling overseas was expected to reach 10 million, he said.

Indian tourism to New Zealand was knocked severely by the Sars epidemic and traffic had been slow to return, even though the rest of Asian tourism had bounced back.

India Downunder

* Between 15,000 and 20,000 Indians visit New Zealand each year.

* Upmarket leisure tourists, especially honeymooners, make up a strong part of the tourist market.

* As many as 10 million Indians are expected to travel overseas next year, and 50 million by 2020.

- NZPA