Thursday, February 2 2012

THE biggest advantage for Indian tourists coming to Trinidad and Tobago is that they are not made to feel like strangers in a new land, said Indian travel agents who are currently on a familiarisation tour of this country.

“The biggest advantage is that we do not feel like Indians in Trinidad. No one would look at us twice,” one of the agents said.

Travel agent of Mercury Travels Nagsri Prasad Sashidhar gave her first impression of TT at a press conference last Wednesday at the Ministry of Tourism, International Water Front, Port-of-Spain.

Five travel agents from among the largest travel agencies in India are currently on a one week familiarisation tour.

TT and the rest of the Caribbean, Sashidhar said, “was only an aspiration destination we could only dream about. Seeing the reality, it is superb. We’ll try to cover as much as we can so we can go back and be your ambassadors.”

On account of airlift and while awaiting direct flights between TT and Indian using Caribbean Airlines Limited and Air India, Sashidhar said that travel would have to be either through the United Kingdom or the USA - a package they would like to develop.

Because of visa restrictions, she said they would also have to look at other routes. During her recent visit to India, Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar signed on behalf of TT, a bilateral air services agreement with the Indian government.

Minister of Tourism Rupert Griffith told the media the travel agents visit is one of the benefits of a visit by a delegation he led to India a year ago to promote TT as an emerging tourism destination.

In September, the Ministry of Tourism appointed the Indian advertising company, Beautiful Planet, as its overseas representative to market TT on behalf of the Tourism Development Company (TDC).