Repositioning Maharashtra in the world tourism map.

To the rest of world when you think of fascinating tourist spots in India the only thing
that comes to mind is the Taj Mahal the historic monument in Agra. That no longer holds true and every state has made their representation and mark in International tourism to draw tourists to India. Each state has chalked out their own marketing and communication strategy to position their state in the best and most unique manner to woo tourist to their destination. While Kerala was the first to start in the most aggressive manner Maharastra was one of the late starters to promote the state as an attractive tourist destination. The state has made rigorous effort over the last 6 years to get recognition as an important tourist destination in the world.

It‘s all about perceptions:
One is really surprised that a progressive state like Maharastra ignored tourism for many years. The state is always perceived more as an industrial state with major focus being to encourage industrial projects. Also since Mumbai being seen as the financial capital importance to promote the state as a tourist attraction never figured high on the agenda. While Mumbai is connected very well with the rest of world with world class airport the tourist always disembarked at Mumbai as the transit point to reach other tourist destination in India. This is despite Maharashtra having world heritage sites, rich in history, Buddhist caves, a 730 kms coastline, unspoilt beaches and hill stations. Since these destinations did not have any image unlike kerala, the tourist spots never figured in the consideration set of the traveler when choosing any tourist destination. Therefore the first task for the state was to re position the state, heighten awareness and get the brand into the consideration set of potential tourists.
Rebranding Maharashtra :
Positioning the state was a tough challenge. As the state did not have any one unique offering unlike other states such as Kerala which was known for its beautiful backwaters, Rajasthan for its forts, Goa for its beaches and the Southern states for its pilgrimage sites positioning the state differently was not easy. When we probed with some consumers about the travel destination in Maharashtra we found the state had little of everything beginning from its forts, beaches, temples, heritage, pilgrimage, and wildlife sanctuary and hill station. The state also had a strong connect with Bollywood .We had the option of positioning Maharastra as a 70 MM holiday experience but we felt that would strongly skew towards only Bollywood and will be more Mumbai centric and thereby missing out some of the other attraction in the state. Since the state had plentiful to offer as travel spots it was decided to position the state has SOMETHING FOR EVERYONE which gave rise to the new slogan or tagline MAHARASHTRA UNLIMITED.A new logo and identity was created which was then used in all the print and collateral communication. The logo was a typographical design using very bright yellow and touch of orange color supplemented by neat and contemporary typeface to give an earthy look.

The new positioning was then translated into print communication promoting each destination. Initially the print campaign was promoted only in the domestic market but in the next stage efforts was made to promote only the heritage sites in some select international market. Here Ajanta and Ellora the most famous heritage sites was showcased in a very interesting manner. In the next phase to dissuade outbound tourist from visiting international tourist spots due to 9/11 a separate campaign was created to benchmark Maharastra with some of the other exotic locations in the world. Why go anywhere else? was the proposition for the campaign. It was important that the campaign delivered credibility and it was ensured that the photography of the exotic destinations in Maharashtra transported the same to the audience.
Next Big Leap:
The repositioning and re branding lifted the awareness of Maharashtra but it was still not seen as a happening destination amongst international tourist. The state also became suddenly ambitious to double the tourist traffic from the global space. Since the state did not own one unique property like other states the challenge to take it to the next level was a big one. The strategy was to ensure foreign tourist not to use Mumbai as a transit port. This mooted the state to look at what Palace on Wheels is doing to Rajasthan? The state also realized some pedestal or platform was required to create a hook to pull the tourist This gave birth to the idea of launching a Luxury train which was the best and most viable option available as the train could travel across Maharasthra touching all destinations in regal style. The train was branded as Deccan Odyssey and an interesting print campaign was unveiled in some world class magazines in all Europe, US, and other key markets in Asia. A four ad print campaign showcasing stunning visuals depicted the way royalty traveled in the past, on a train of elephants, palanquins, horse drawn carriages and boats hit some best magazines internationally. To communicate the richness of experience premium and rich imagery were used showing the ways royalty traveled in the ancient times. The print campaign was well supported by online booking and marketing of the train through travel agents in the international markets. Today Deccan Odyssey is the jewel of Maharashtra. Condensate traveler one of the reputed international travel magazine has seeded Deccan Odyssey amongst the top luxury trains in the world according to the survey done by them.
The launch of the luxury train has definitely catapulted the state in the world tourism map. The success of this has already prompted Kerala and Karnataka to introduce Luxury trains in their respective states. The state has still got to do a lot to match the world class destination. While airports are modernized and infrastructure is looked at closely the passion to promote the state as hot tourist spots should not get dried fast.
While print campaigns and participating in travel exhibition will generate awareness but it is important we must use our foreign offices and diplomats to promote the state. Credibility has to be built among travel operators and foreign tourists about the state. Strong PR strategy needs to be evolved through fam tours and diplomatic relations to make the state as one of the most attractive tourist place.
The state should look at tourism also an industry that will generate employment and earn good foreign exchange revenue. The tourist arrival has really shot up in last few years.
Today it is close 6 million but we are way behind to even Singapore who attract close to 10 million each year. So where is the lacuna? Only continuous introspection, aggressive and friendly policies from the government on the tourism front will help us in increasing tourist arrivals.