Topline Consulting reveals strategy for Indian tourism sector
Having only recently established its first office in the Indian market, Chinese communications advisory firm Topline Consulting has declared its intentions for the Indian market, which primarily involves the promotion of Indian tourism as a major marketing opportunity for the Chinese market.
Established in 2010 in Beijing, Topline Consulting is a branding and communications advisory firm, which lays its operational emphasis on data and insight-driven strategising to help its clients build a promising marketing profile. Since its conception, the firm has grown to operate with over 300 professionals, expanding across a number of markets.
Most recently, the firm established a presence in the Indian market, where the branding and marketing landscape is becoming increasingly competitive. Topline brought its full suite of services to the country, which includes strategic public relations, e-commerce product marketing, digital communications and crisis management, among a whole range of others.
The firm supports clients in a number of sectors, although it has now revealed that one of its major areas of focus for the Indian market will be the country’s tourism industry. Speaking at the India Tourism Mart for 2018, Topline’s Chairperson for International Business Yan Han elaborated on the firm’s strategy to work with the sector.
At its core, Topline is looking to address the major shortage of Chinese tourists to India, a market that could be economically lucrative if nurtured correctly. A number of obstacles currently exist for Chinese tourists coming to India, including the most obvious issue of a language barrier.
Another major challenge lies in the fact that well over half the tourists out of China are female, which raises an issue for India given its reputation as an unsafe environment for female tourists. Yan Han also stressed that travel between the two countries remains more costly than it should be in light of their close proximity.
Speaking at the event, she commented, “Based on the research done by Topline, we found that while the number of outbound Chinese tourists had increased from 117 million to 131 million for the period 2015-2017, the total number of Chinese tourists to India was less than 1% of the overall tourists in the past three years and this presents a very strong opportunity for the Indian Tourism sector.”
She added, “The challenges actually present an opportunity for the Indian tourism sector and with a strategic objective to attract 14 million Chinese tourists in the next 5 years, Topline would devise strategies that would not only attract China outbound tourists, but also give them a sense of belonging in terms of a cultural exchange which would celebrate what we can only describe best with the line - Incredible India.”
The move comes immediately after the Singapore Tourism Board declared its intentions to promote tourism between India and Singapore, indicating a trend of increased tourism within South and Southeast Asia, particularly as India becomes a driver of economic growth in the region.
