Travel + Leisure Travel Advisory Board’s visit to India
The Official Travel Advisory Board. The Travel + Leisure Travel Advisory Board is a select group of owners and operators of the country’s most important agencies. They share with T+L their expert opinions on the latest developments in the travel industry and their read on ever-evolving consumer trends
In March 2019, Travel + Leisure’s Travel Advisory Board (TAB) visited India. The 15 most influential travel experts who manage more than 8K travel counselors and drive more than $14billion in annual billingswere part of this visit. These travel experts along with the Editor-in-Chief of T+L experienced the best of Indian hospitality for eight days across the Leela Palaces Hotels and Resorts, Oberoi Hotels & resorts, Taj Hotels, Resorts and Palaces (IHCL)
The objective behind this visit:
- To experience the best of Indian history, culture, cuisine and service.
- To educate the travel advisors back in the U.S. about the destination
- To gain knowledge on how to sell India to affluent consumers in the U.S.
For the Luxury hotels the objective was:
- To learn from the advisors how hotels can help advisors sell their property and destination
- To showcase the highlights of the property, brand and location.
The key takeaway from the eight-day trip of ‘The Golden Triangle of India’
During these eight daysthe advisors visited various hotels in Delhi, Agra and Rajasthan which helped themexperience the best of Indian history, culture, cuisine and service.
This helped them dispel the “general” perceptions of India amongst travelers from across the world and show them the real and modern India and to gain knowledge of how to sell India to affluent consumers. They did this with the help of social media where they started engaging with their followers extensively and started sharing their experiences and key take away:
- India’s biggest asset is the warmth of the people
- Across India, English is understood and spoken
- Promote fashion, wellness and food tourism
- Focus on family trips
- India is perfect for renewal of wedding vows and honeymoon
“Historic great property in the middle of Mumbai”
“Arguably my favorite hotel of the entire trip. Historic, amazing service, incredible restaurants, spa and pool. An urban oasis that ranks for me as one of my favorite city hotel experiences of my life”
"A special romantic spot - in room amenities were great, attention and service exceptional."
"A dream! This property may be one of my favorites in the world. Staff was helpful and kind. I loved my room and the whole experience - arrival. boat ride and dinner."
"I loved hotel! Such great service. product and location. The roof top and restaurants were fantastic. I just wish we had more time here!"
"First - my favorite part of Oberoi is the people! You have hired the most amazing staff and I can really see difference from the other hotels. I really love the hotel and the update and wish I had a bit more time to experience it. The view from my room was so beautiful. I loved seeing the bird soar. The rooftop is a fantastic perk and I love the shops and market on the bottom."
"Loved the rooms, and walk out balcony's with stunning views of the Taj Mahal."
"Staff and service was exceptional throughout -- mad to feel very much at home. The message was exceptional - one of the best I've had."
"Services was as good or better than anywhere we statyed. I was very impressed."
Results Achieved:
- Garnered a reach of around 400,000 on social media
- The entire experience was covered in T+L magazine and various news letters with a total reach of 7million.
