Rail Europe 4A, a joint venture between the French and Swiss national railways (SNCF and SBB), has announced its public relation partnership with Adfactors PR for its India operations. Based in Paris (France), Rail Europe 4A is the market leader in European rail travel over 45 countries of Asia, Australia, Africa and South America and hence the 4As.
"Rail Europe 4A's Indian market recorded a consistent growth of over 18 per cent for FY 2011, placing India as the company's #5 market for the second successive year," said Mr Kunal Kothari, executive director at Rail Europe India.
"We are confident of leveraging this huge business opportunity with the help of Adfactors PR, the largest and the most diversified PR agency in the country today. The growing economy and changing demographics means, India will remain the focus of attention through the next few years for Rail Europe 4A. One of our key priorities will be communicating with our customers and stake holders," Kothari added.
Rail Europe 4A's growth rate has been steady through the last 5-6 years which keeps India among the top five markets of Rail Europe, the #1 distributor of train tickets and rail passes in the world. "We wish to play a strategic role in helping Rail Europe 4A achieve its business objectives in India. Our focus would be to help Rail Europe 4A access the fast growing segment from the Tier 2 and 3 markets of India, which now accounts more than half of first time travellers to Europe," said Mr Madan Bahal, Managing Director of Adfactors PR.
The UNWTO predicts that India will account for 50 million outbound tourists by 2020. Another report estimates the total expenditure by Indians on outbound travel will cross the $ 28 billion mark in 2020. Of this, Europe holds an estimated market share of about 20 per cent, at a stable growth rate of 5-7 per cent per annum.
With its offices in Japan, South Korea, Hong Kong, Thailand, India, the UAE, South America and Australia, and 134 general sales agents in 49 countries, Rail Europe 4A acts both as a wholesaler to general sales agents and as a retailer through fully owned web sites. In 2011, Rail Europe 4A transported more than 2 million travellers, achieving another record year with a turnover over EUR 177 million.
Rail Europe 4A's other rail partners include the Eurail Gie, Eurostar, Thalys, Lyria, Elipsos, Artesia, City night Line and ACP (BritRail). The national railways of Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Finland, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Ireland; Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, Spain and Sweden also are in tie-ups with Rail Europe. Among the national tourist boards that have partnered with Rail Europe are Atout France, Switzerland Tourism, Visit Britain, ENIT (Italy) and DZT (Germany).
/afaqs/media/member_avatars/b19bc90752f22463c21493ea40ad04dd26b32ea4045d163717734c0181e00e52.png )
Follow Us/afaqs/media/agency_attachments/2024-10-10t065829449z-afaqs_640x480.png)
/afaqs/media/post_attachments/9d709207bb37bf5b584c585bb5361afa288ac8444a884e8f6d2404474f393da3.jpg)