MARKETS
Tourism increases between India and Poland Sudipta Dev Mumbai POLAND HAS seen an increase in visitor arrivals from India together with the Czech Republic, Slovakia and Austria. “We are making efforts to promote Poland as an independent destination in India,” said Prof Piotr Klodkowski, ambassador of Poland to India. He pointed out that people in Poland have a deep interest in Indian culture. India is a popular destination among Polish tourists. "As many as 40,000 Polish tourists visit India every year and the numbers are rising. There has been a growth of around 30 per cent,” informed Klodkowski. The most popular cities visited by Indian tourists in
Poland are Krakow, Warsaw and Gdansk. Klodkowski reminded that a few Bollywood films have been shot in Poland. 'Fanaa' being the most famous which saw Polish mountains representing Kashmir. Recently a film 'Azaan' was also shot in the ancient city of Krakow. “Poland has excellent mountainous areas if you love climbing or trekking. In Krakow you can spend time in heritage hotels. Warsaw was destroyed almost totally during World War II and has been rebuilt. Those who have interest in the process of renovation would be interested in this aspect,” he stated. There are many cultural links between India and Poland. Klodkowski informed that in Umaid Bhawan, Jodhpur, the paintings and murals
were created by Polish painter Stefan Norblin. “He had his first exhibition in Mumbai. We are grateful to India for show-
ing hospitality to Polish refugees. Jam Saheb Digvijaysinhji, the Maharaja of Jamnagar had then opened his
heart and purse for several thousand Polish children. There was a Polish camp, a school, kindergarten and college in Gujarat. We have a high school in Warsaw in his memory and a square ' The Square of the Good Maharaja' named after him,” informed Klodkowski. Recently a film 'A Little Poland in India' has been made on these children. Another film 'Chitranjali' has been made on the life of Norblin. The Indian community in Poland is very small, just about 2000 people, mostly comprising the business community. “Lakshmi Mittal has invested US$ two billion in Poland, he is the owner of Polish Steelworks. He has a very strong presence in our country,” said Klodkowski.
Bahrain's leading travel agency to open office in Mumbai Sudipta Dev Manama DADABHAI GROUP, one of the pioneers in travel and hospitality space in the Kingdom of Bahrain, plans to open a branch of Dadabhai Travel in Mumbai in a few months. Dadabhai Travel was started in 1981 in Manama. "We have offices in Al Khobar and Jubail in Saudi Arabia. We will soon have offices in Jeddah and Riyadh. There are two offices in Dubai and another will be opened in Abu Dhabi soon. The Mumbai branch will be opened within a few months,” said Aziz Gilitwala, managing director, Dadabhai Travel, adding that there is also an associate office in Iraq. Gilitwala mentioned that
the company has a strong corporate client base and because these clients have business interests in Dubai, Saudi Arabia and India they want to deal with a travel agency which has same work ethics and philosophy. “They are all expanding
As far as the Indian market is concerned the client base is primarily the corporate segment
and they want us to be with them. This gives us an in-house client base, which helps us grow where we move,” he added. Gilitwala disclosed his plans for going into B2B business. “India and Saudi Arabia are very huge markets, we want to make ourselves accessible to smaller travel agencies who are remotely located,” he stated. One of the leading hospitality companies in the Kingdom of Bahrain, Elite Hospitality, a part of the Dadabhai Group, has eight properties in Manama. While most of the clientele are Saudi Arabian families, as far as the Indian market is concerned the client base is primarily the corporate segment. “We get many corporate clients from India. There are
many Indian institutions here,” said Mohammed A Dadabhai, chairman, Dadabhai Group. Chairman of a diversified set of companies, about 91 years back Dadabhai's father came from India and settled in Bahrain. The group properties include Elite Crystal Hotel, Elite Grande Hotel, Elite Resort and Spa Muharraq, Elite Seef Residence & Hotel, Elite Residences, and others. Dadabhai stated, “About 70 per cent of the market share for tourism in Bahrain is for four-star hotels. We have all apartment hotels that have the comfort of more than just a room. This is why many Saudi families stay with us. We create Bahrain as a hub for Saudi Arabia in terms of all the facilities that we provide.
Mohammed A Dadabhai
About three-four million tourists come to a country of one million every year.” He pointed out that tourism in Bahrain is flourishing because of the causeway - it only takes about 40 minutes by road to reach Saudi Arabia, which is a country of almost 30 million people.
EXPRESS TRAVELWORLD
9
February 2014