Tourism New Zealand has appointed Ms Tishtar Parakh as its new Country Manager for India, signalling a strong renewed focus on B2B engagement in its fifth-largest source market.
Based in Mumbai, Ms Parakh brings extensive experience across both tourism boards and outbound operations. She steps into this leadership role following a successful six-and-a-half-year tenure at VisitBritain, where she drove trade strategy as Manager for Industry Relations and Partnerships. Before that, she strengthened her trade roots, handling the MICE segment as Assistant Manager of Products and Marketing at Cox & Kings. Parakh recently confirmed her new appointment via social media.
Capitalising on India’s 122% Rebound, Parakh takes charge at a highly opportune moment for the Indian outbound sector. India has officially emerged as New Zealand’s fastest-recovering source market globally.
While New Zealand’s overall international tourism recovery is currently hovering at 96% of pre-pandemic levels, the Indian market has surged well ahead, hitting 122% of its 2019 baseline. The destination welcomed over 81,000 Indian visitors in the 12 months ending January 2026, solidifying India’s position as a critical growth engine.
With Ms Parakh’s background, spanning destination marketing at VisitBritain and frontline MICE operations at Cox & Kings, the Indian travel trade can anticipate a highly targeted, agent-friendly approach from Tourism New Zealand. As the market over-indexes on recovery, expect the board to aggressively empower local operators to sell longer, premium itineraries and incentivise high-yield group travel.
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