Germany beckons Indian tourists with masala chai and samosa

CHENNAI: Indian tourists will be able to sip masala chai and munch on samosas while cruising down the Rhine from next year as German tourism boards have started to customise their tour activities.
Tourism boards across Germany have identified Indian restaurants as leisure travellers from India do not prefer to try out German food while travelling.
Speaking at a tourism roadshow here, German National Tourist Office director Romit Theophilus said: “Around 16,000 Indian restaurants have been identified across Germany.We aim at increasing the share of Indian leisure travellers. Business travellers are growing but the numbers of leisure needs a boost.”
Luisa Zimmerman from KD Rhine Cruise said, “We are planning to introduce Indian snacks like masala chai and samosas on cruise from 2017.” She urged tourists to try out German cuisine but said Indian options would be available on the Rhine valley cruise.
Representatives from tourism boards stressed on the assembled travel and tour operators that tourists would not face problem because of cuisine. Most of the towns including a small town called Baden Baden, a spa towns in southwestern Germany, have at least two Indian restaurants.
Weibke Freund from Baden Baden said, “Vegetarian food may not be a problem for tourists. I have been a vegetarian for the last 20 years and I assure that there will be good choice of vegetarian food while in German.”
Romit Theophilus said, “Germany has recorded 5 lakh overnight stays from India for the period January-August 2016, a rise of 4.4% over the same period last year. Around 50% of the visitors are leisure travellers. But we want to grow the leisure tourist segment substantially from India.” This year’s focus will be to strengthen Germany’s image as a travel destination for natural and scenic holidays.
The tourism boards in Germany have begun offering services that cater to the taste of Indian tourists, with focus on Indian cuisine. Tours and visits are being custom-made for Indians based on feedback from earlier roadshows.
He said Germany is a destination with a plethora of scenic and natural landscapes -- from Zugspitze in the German Alps in the south, the Wadden Sea and the coastal cities in the north to Bastei Rock formations in the east.
Representatives from eight German tourism boards and tourism companies took part in the roadshow in which awareness was created among travel agents and tour operators. The roadshow which was flagged off in Mumbai will be held in Kolkata and New Delhi in the coming days.