Seychelles the islands of love
EDITOR’S NOTE
Include Ignite Innovate A
s I reflect back on my observations of this vibrant sector called tourism and travel, I can only express myself in the two words that Hope Floats. Industry thought leaders, across segments namely the tour operators both inbound and outbound, hoteliers, transport facilitators be it aviation, railways, roads and cruises have all jointly contributed to the growth of this industry. When I speak to most old timers, the common expression I receive is ‘well those were the days.' Most certainly they were, but if I read deeper, they vociferously wish to say that there was a certain level of ethics in the trade while conducting business, which seems like a distant memory. As an eternal optimist, I would say maybe that was the past, but it is time we look into the future and save our present by taking forward the integrity of the past. The first thing the fraternity needs to do with immediate effect is to respect oneself and the profession. Ethical trade practice is the need of the hour and unity should not be just a loosely used term. Undercutting should be considered as a taboo and the industry, I am certain can speak as one voice. Such a practice will reap rich rewards. Speaking as a common voice will also have the power to make the government stand up and listen and probably give tourism its rightful place as a priority sector. Associations also need to get their act together and strengthen their internal mechanisms to be the true voice of the industry and
“ The first thing the fraternity needs to do with immediate effect is to respect oneself and the profession. Ethical trade practice is the need of the hour and unity should not be just a loosely used term”
work toward addressing real time issues that will make the future working of its members seamless. Enough have we debated and discussed on what should be, conventions after conventions across the board, be it hospitality, tourism or transport. The time has come to stop complaining and start contributing to the common good. Well no industry is infallible. No doubt the tourism industry has a number of bottlenecks from taxation issues, to government's focus to aviation volatility. There is a lot we have spoken about namely lethargy, leadership failure and lack of infrastructure. But the time has come to think right to Include, to Ignite and to Innovate. Include - people with a sustainable and responsible tourism approach, Ignite – new practices and policies and Innovate - through constant research and being in sync with the pulse of the market. We at Express TravelWorld have also taken a call to move on with time from the print format to the digital world, as the industry today is certainly also wanting to embrace technology to further harness its progress. The Gen Nxt of our industry also believes in moving ahead with action rather than archaic thoughts. Let's move on building this industry one step at a time and well...miracles do happen.
REEMA LOKESH Editor editorial.etw@expressindia.com
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CONTENTS SPOTLIGHT Vol 14 No 02 March 2019 Pages 48
14
Chairman of the Board Viveck Goenka
Sr. Vice President - BPD Neil Viegas
Asst. Vice President - BPD Harit Mohanty
Editor Reema Lokesh*
IN FOCUS
Assistant Editor
16
Steena Joy
DESIGN Assistant Art Director Pravin Temble Chief Designer Prasad Tate Senior Designer Rekha Bisht Graphics Designer Gauri Deorukhkar
GEN NXT
Senior Artist Ratilal Ladani DIGITAL TEAM
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Head of Internet Viraj Mehta SCHEDULING & COORDINATION Arvind Mane
Photo Editor
(21-30)
Sandeep Patil MARKETING Prabhas Jha Debnarayan Dutta CIRCULATION Mohan Varadakar
MARKETS
5
PRODUCTION
TBO GROUP FORAYS INTO NEW BUSINESSES-SPORTS IS NEXT
7
General Manager B R Tipnis
TAIWAN TOURISM AIMS TO STRENGTHEN ITS MICE OFFERINGS FOR THE INDIA MARKET
9
SEYCHELLES TOURISM LAUNCHES GLOBAL ADVERTISING CAMPAIGN
TECH TALK
Production Co-ordinator Dhananjay Nidre
Express TravelWorld® POSTAL REGD. NO. MCS/163/2019 – 21 RNI Reg. No.MAHENG/2005/15993
11
VISIT HOUSTON FOCUSES ON STRENGTHENING TIES IN THE INDIA MARKET
12
WHAT IT TAKES TO PLAN HIGH PROFILE WEDDINGS
20
COVER-MORE REAFFIRMS FAITH IN THE INDIA MARKET
36
Printed by The Indian Express (P) Ltd. and published by Ms Vaidehi Thakar on behalf of The Indian Express Press, Plot No. EL-208, TTC Industrial Area, Mahape, Navi Mumbai 400710 and Published from Express Towers, 1st Floor, Nariman Point, Mumbai - 400021. (Editorial & Administrative Offices: Express
P03 : EDITOR’S NOTE P45 : MOVEMENTS
Towers, 1st Floor, Nariman Point, Mumbai – 400021)
P46 : WEEKEND
Copyright © 2018 The Indian Express (P) Limited. All rights reserved throughout the world. Reproduction in any manner, electronic or otherwise, in whole or in part, without prior written permission is prohibited. *Responsible for selection of news under PRB Act
IN THE NEWS
TBO Group forays into new businesses-sports is next Reema Lokesh Mumbai THE TBO Group is expanding its network and the plan is now to enter new ventures and opportunities in the travel B2B space. Ankush Nijhawan, cofounder, TBO Group in an exclusive with Express TravelWorld, said, “The company has come a long way and accomplished a lot in the past 12 years with due credit to the industry partners. However the way forward is of extended growth and expansions. The company is all set to change gears and turbo charge
their engines again, whether it's with the right manpower, technology or infrastructure. The company has made its market in the GCC regions and also parts of Africa, but now we are keen to expand in others regions namely Oceania, Europe, Latin America other parts of Africa and especially China. China as we see it today is not an easy market but of one the most robust markets and the largest outbound market. Hence the Group is keen to further focus on this market. The company has once again reiterated its focus to be a serious global player
Ankush Nijhawan
in the B2B space”, says Nijhawan. In terms of its expansion plans, the company thought leaders are clear, it has to be build or buy model. They are looking to penetrate into newer destinations namely China, Latin America, Indonesia. Says Nijhawan, “We are clear to go the path of build or buy. We are looking at JVs in China and other areas as well. We want to strengthen out footfold strongly. We have done well with newer businesses namely the TBO DMC business which we started not
too long ago. We have strong plans to venture into sports tourism. We are also catering to the ICC Cricket packages and letscricket.com is another venture we are proud of.”Our new venture in cruise tourism is also looking promising. The industry today is going through its challenges be it the aviation sector, the dollar fluctuations etc and now the forth coming general elections may also cause some temporary challenges, but the company is confident to fore ahead amidst challenges through strategic planning.
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PATH BREAKER
‘TRAVELIS APOWERFULTOOLFOR THE VISUALLY CHALLENGED TO OVER COME THEIR FEAR’ Amit Jain, founder, Rising Star Tours & Travels, shares his experiences on how he embarked on creating a platform, which could enable visually challenged people to travel without fear. By Reema Lokesh 1) What was the main trigger to offer travel services to a niche audience especially the visually challenged? After so many years of travelling, I realised that it is one of the most unfulfilled desires for this niche audience, and people often overlook it. I thought what if I can do this with ease. Hence, I embarked on creating a platform, which could enable visually challenged people to travel without fear. Even today, people mostly donate food and clothes to this section of the society. They are also humans, and hence, must be equally curious to travel and communicate with others. However, they somehow hesitate to do so due to their innate fear. And, I believe travel is the best solution for them to overcome this fear. 2) What are the challenges you faced initially while conceptualising such a programme? Our initial phase involved a lot of challenges. The first one was to change the mindsets of these visually impaired people and help them overcome the fear of travel. Even today, they hesitate to come out of their homes. Convincing them and their families, and ensuring them a safer travelling experience was a challenge. Besides, finding the right hotels to stay, mid-meal restaurants, which have a sensitive attitude towards visually impaired people and
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Our initial phase involved a lot of challenges. The first one was to change the mindsets of these visually impaired people and help them overcome the fear of travel. Even today, they hesitate to come out of their homes
Amit Jain
seeking the right volunteers to help them travel were some other challenges. However, I was always passionate and confident that this can happen, and as a team, we can make it happen. 3) What were the challenges you faced during the execution phase? Other challenges included making and revising the rooming list approximately 50-60 times. We had to ensure that every person has one volunteer to accompany with an equal male-female ratio. Next was to guide them about their surroundings,
helping them pack and unpack, giving them instructions like step up, step down, move forward, stop. Timely arrangement of food, helping them eat, time management as they took much time to get ready, etc. were some other challenges. Narrating them everything in detail with right emotions, understanding their mood, empathising with them, chatting with them in their way, all of it without offending them was quite challenging. 4) What according to you is the future of the tour operations business in India?
I feel no one can ever get tired of traveling. It is something that everyone loves to be a part of. With time, people are becoming more sensitive and coming forward to help others travel. There are many individuals who look forward to unique experiences, which include fine dining, comfortable stays, camping and many such activities. New trends like experiential travel will keep coming and taking the travel industry by storm. From millennials to elderly, everyone has started taking traveling seriously and passionately. All such things speaks loud of its bright future. 5) Are you looking at working with other partners to push this specialized niche travel forward? I would love to associate with other partners who have the same passion and want to make this initiative a great success. People with the
right mindsets and who wish to spread joy through travelling should be there in this domain. The coming together of more such individuals is the need of the hour, and I hope we can make this journey more comfortable for the sightless people in the coming years. 6) Any other message you wish to share. Have a sensitive attitude towards everyone, because you never know what the other person has gone through or is going through. Always motivate others and help people conquer their innate fear. Everything is possible in life, including travel. Visually-impaired people should be given an equal chance to be involved in a society where they can normally interact with people and show their talents as well. They are our equals, and we should respect them in every aspect.
IN THE NEWS
Taiwan Tourism aims to strengthen its MICE offerings for the India market Reema Lokesh Mumbai TAIWAN Tourism, is working closely with the trade to further enhance its MICE and incentive offerings for the India market. Those tour operators applying for a group visa for convention delegates, as per the tourism office, the process has been made much simpler. All one needs to do is submit a set of completed forms and required documents, such as passport scans and names of all group members, to the Taiwan Tourism Board (TTB) India office. Approvals are typically granted in seven to 11 days, depending on your group size. According to Ritushri Dhankher and Reem Khokhar, Representing TTB, “Taiwan has myriad facilities that specifically cater to MICE programmes, from exhibition centres like the Kaohsiung Exhibition Center and the soon-to-launch Tainan Exhibition Center, to first-class hotels to house representatives from all over the world. Apart from hosting
programmes the Taiwan MICE Project Office also provides special incentives for foreigners, which include tour recommendations, venue introduction and site inspection assistance. Taiwan may be known for street food delicacies like XXL chicken and oyster noodles,
but the island is also home to countless vegetarian and Indian restaurants, which can range from buffets to fine dining options. Taiwan is also popular for its night markets, shopping and scenery.� The team also conducted some connect programmes in the South of In-
dia. Guests from over 20 companies in Bangalore were invited for a presentation on MICE opportunities in Taiwan. Organised by Taiwan Tourism Bureau (TTB) with travel firm Cox & Kings as part of an ongoing MICE campaign, the event showcased all the reasons why companies
should choose Taiwan as a location for MICE events. These include ease of visa application and help with group movements provided by TTB, among others. The Tourism board also aims to introduces the forthcoming Tung Blossom Festival in Taiwan from 30 March to 19 May 2019.
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GAME CHANGER
‘WE PIONEERED LONG DISTANCE RIVER CRUISING IN INDIA’ Janabi Phookan, director, Jungle Travels India and Assam Bengal Navigation Company ans senior VP, FICCI FLO articulates on the tourism business in the North East, the challenges and triumphs in the tourism sector and more. By Reema Lokesh How would you like to define your journey in the travel industry? It all started with a dream to bring tourists into the jungles of Assam and the name Jungle Travels was born. My husband Ashish was then a tea taster with the premier tea broking firm J Thomas & Co. I was a journalist, trained in Indian Institute of Mass Communication IIMC and Indiana University. Neither of us had any qualification in travel & tourism. All we had was the passion to succeed and showcase our region to the world. Looking back to our 30 years, it’s been an incredible journey to do what we do and loving every day of it. In 1989 we set up shop from a wing of a residential home, tucked in a quiet bylane, with a monthly rent of Rs 1000. My husband's cousin with some experience in travel (unlike us) and two delivery boys were our only resources. We branched out into outbound in 1990 as we soon found that inbound was a very seasonal business in Assam with the Kaziranga National Park open for just six months. That was 30 years ago. 15 years later, in 2003 , we pioneered long distance river cruising in India with our first vessel ABN Charaidew under our sister company Assam Bengal Navigation. This year, our fourth ship ABN Charaidew 2 has started on the River Brahmaputra in Assam alongwith Charaidew 1. ABN Sukapha and ABN Rajmahal cruise on the River Hugli and River Ganges. What according to you were the primary challenges? Starting out 30 years ago,
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the challenges for me was societal. Working outside the home in conservative Assam was quite unheard of and a lady in the travel profession was rare. Ticketing offices were basic and the staff, clerical. Ashish and I were surprised to find that in 1989 there were no IATA agents in the entire Northeast (including Sikkim). Kolkata was considered the only source for international bookings. International ticketing was such a closed world then. In 1994, the then iconic American Express Travel Services ventured into the Northeast seeking a franchise partner for their card member services. They chose us as their representative from the Northeast and it was this tie-up which helped us penetrate the sacrosanct world of the IATA agent and get the accreditation which no Northeast agent had managed till then. In 1996, Jungle Travels India became the first IATA agent in the entire eight states of the Northeast. This recognition is a matter of great pride for us as the airline industry finally saw that there was a market beyond West Bengal that they needed to reach out to and the Northeast finally came into its own. From 2000, the outbound business was again revived. Deciding to market the Northeast themselves, instead of being sub agents to mainland India players, we were the first agents to attend travel shows abroad. The inbound business began to pick up. The key was quality people and we invested in retaining people from good families, like minded and well educated, at the executive level. JTI was also the only travel agency of the North-
months of August and September. Our fourth vessel Charaidew 2 was launched for sailing on the Brahmaputra from January 2019. This is our 15th year of operation. Since our inception, we have tried for permission to carry passengers through Bangladesh (so far, only our vessels had sailed through with crew) and with the MOU finally signed with Bangladesh, that will soon be a reality and will open up the high end river cruise tourism between our countries.
Janabi Phookan
east to be awarded The National Tourism Award for Excellence in Innovation in 2004. This was for the pioneering climb of Mt Saramati in Nagaland. Can you share the story of your home grown cruise initiative? It is a matter of pride for us that our sister concern, Assam Bengal Navigation Company, was to pioneer long distance river cruising in the country with their first ship, ABN Charaidew on the Brahmaputra in 2003. We were to put India on the international river cruising map of the world. ABN went on to add a second river vessel ABN Sukapha and started operations on the Hugli and the River Ganges in 2007. Our third vessel ABN Rajmahal built to sail upto Varanasi, was launched for Hugli and Ganges in 2014. She is the first ship to sail beyond the ghats of Varanasi, which is possible only in the monsoon
What are the bottlenecks the industry is facing to develop tourism in the North East? To my mind, credit must go to the Ministry of Tourism for the “paradise unexplored “ campaigns as well as to the Centre for the developmental thrust and focus they have given to the Northeast. Air connectivity is tremendous now, the domestic inflow has improved and awareness of our region has grown hugely. Are there any areas of positive development, which you would like to highlight? We are committed to our creed of eco-tourism as the only sustainable development model and economic generator for our region . We feel vindicated when we opened up tourism in the hitherto troubled region of the Manas National Park. That was way back in 2003 when my husband Ashish approached the Assam Govt to open up their 16 room lodge at Manas National Park, which had only lodged the CRPF for years. Restored at great cost, and renamed as The Bansbari Lodge, we opened up the Manas National Park to for-
eign tourists for the first time after 20 years of insurgency. This foray into opening up Manas National Park to foreign tourists by us led to a spurt of domestic tourism as well, roads were improved and gainful employment opportunities was created for all. This is the essence of tourism that we have always stood for. We were awarded by the Assam Govt for this contribution to the economy. In 2008, our upscale jungle lodge in Kaziranga National Park, The Diphlu River Lodge, opened to rave reviews and is the only certified Eco Lodge in the state. It was indeed a testimony to Diphlu River Lodge that in 2016, when the Royals, the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge visited Assam, they chose our lodge to stay for their two nights in Assam. Diphlu River Lodge’s comfortable cottages on stilts, simple bamboo bridge to cross the paddy fields, home grown cuisine, all created with natural resources and staffed by our own human resources was therefore appreciated as a living example of sustainable tourism. To my mind, unfortunately, Kaziranga National Park’s growing popularity has not seen the comparable rise in sustainable tourism standards that she deserves to have. Is the Northeast a gender sensitive work place ? Women in the Northeast have equal opportunities at the workplace. Women are hardworking, honest and sincere. In our companies, we have women representation at every level, from managerial to office help. Women are working outside their homes in every strata of society here.
IN THE NEWS
Seychelles Tourism launches global advertising campaign ETW Staff Mumbai SEYCHELLES Tourism Board (STB) has launched its global advertising campaign film that will be showcased across traditional and digital mediums in the India market. The film is a first of its kind initiative of Seychelles Tourism Board, India Office and is directed and developed by digital content creators -The Vibe. The film captures the essence of Seychelles and highlights diverse aspects of the destination. Seychelles known as a destination for island hopping, the video begins with aerial views of the main islands of Mahé, Praslin and La Digue and highlighting the world’s most photographed beach Anse Source D’Argent known for its beautiful granitic boulders. Moving on from the views of powdery soft sand and clear blue waters, it takes the viewers through the journey of a
young couple enjoying various adventure activities on their romantic vacation. The video combines homogenously a series of ideal activities to be available while on the island including cycling on the sandy beaches and self-driving to get some private moments, trekking and hiking on the island pathways to savour the delights of the country’s pristine environment. It also subtly mixes luxurious and accessible activities such as thrilling helicopter ride to capture some scenic views, relishing local cuisine, sailing on a luxury yacht along with indulging in exciting water activities and stealing some romantic moments while relaxing on the beach; all of this showcasing an ideal and adventurous honeymoon in paradise. Speaking about this recent development on the Indian market, Sherin Francis, STB ‘s chief executive mentioned that the collaboration with TheVibe
Lubaina Sheerazi
Sherin Francis.
has been an opportunity to maximise on the destination’s visibility in the Indian market. “Seychelles remains amongst one of the dream destinations for wedding and honeymooners and our marketing efforts as STB is to carry on promoting Seychelles aggressively in the Indian market and in countries
around the world. The film’s international appeal showcases the beauty of this country beyond its beaches. An increasing number of young couples have been opting for destinations that offer more than just relaxation on their honeymoon. Our aspiration is for our guests to indulge in the recreational ac-
tivities of their choice and create memories of a lifetime. We believe that this new film has put together an interesting mélange of all these aspects which will appeal to young audiences; while helping to boost footfalls in the coming months,” said Francis. Lubaina Sheerazi, COO, Blue Square Consultants, Seychelles Tourist Office - India further added, “The film is a big development for us, as it is an initiative from the India market which will be used for global distribution and promotional purposes. We believe this will facilitate our trade partners to reach out to their audiences and highlight the varied adventurous experiences Seychelles has to offer. We are also delighted to say that Seychelles received 13,901 tourists from India in 2018, retaining India’s position as the top 6th source market for the tourism board.”
ICPB to hold its 12th Conventions India Conclave in Kochi ETW Staff Mumbai INDIA CONVENTION Promotion Bureau (ICPB) recently announced that the association's flagship event the 12th Conventions India Conclave will be held from August 29 to 31, 2019 at Grand Hyatt Kochi, India. The theme of the Conclave is “Mapping the Sustainable MICE Future of India” which goes with the importance of MICE and its economic and social impact. According to Chander Mansharamani, vice chairman - ICPB, “We in ICPB have chosen Kochi as our forthcoming convention destination keeping in view the upcoming MICE infrastructure and Kochi emerging as a preferred MICE destination. We are expecting good number of foreign buyers including two groups of international buyers from USA apart from the domestic buyers and corporates. Ministry of tourism, Kerala State Government are the Platinum sponsors of the event and Grand Hyatt Kochi which has one of the largest Convention Centers is the venue partner for our forthcoming 12th CIC.”
The previous convention was held in Kolkata
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EDU-TRAVEL
‘VISITING INDIAON EDUCATION TOURISM IS AN ABSOLUTELYECONOMICALPREPOSITION FOR ANYBODYLIVING IN EUROPE OR UNITED STATES’ Dr Srimathy Kesan, founder and CEO, Space Kidz India, speaks about the relevance of education tourism and the work of the company in the promotion of space education tourism. By Reema Lokesh What is the potential of education tourism as a niche business? It can be an astronomical tour, it could be an art and culture where students can go and learn different kinds of arts and culture of other countries. It does happen because from India there are lot of children going abroad to various countries to learn their culture and sports tourism. Sports tourism is also a part of educational tourism I feel, because the Children of ages between 10-15 go to Barcelona to learn football. So there is a kind of learning in that too. Hence, I feel anything to do with learning across the globe is educational tourism and India has got rich cultural heritage and diversity in regards to history, languages food and everything.. “you name it India has got everything”.. The only hitch is we are not really developing our educational tourism and i really feel concerned about it. What are the challenges and opportunities you visualise in your space? Well the challenges, initially faced as the first ambassador for the NASA space camps was tremendous because, very seldom children are permitted as young as 12 yrs old to cross oceans, fly and go to different land to learn something for a week. So, parents were really skeptical to send their children with a total stranger and hence, I had to work really hard to convince them and I should say by the grace of god it really worked
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and today I can proudly say I was able to take about 1500 children of all age groups between 12-22 yrs across the Country to United States, Canada, and to Russia, now currently being the ambassador to the Russian Space center i have taken enough and more children to Gagarin Cosmonaut training center, Moscow and also being the ambassador for the Aero festival - “MAKS, Russia”. I was able to take children there too. At MAKS the children are awarded for their creativity their presentation, and model making with regards to Aerospace. We actually had the opportunity to meet the President Putin, though we did not go very close to him but yes, of course we had an opportunity to meet him and we also had an opportunity to meet and interact with the Science and Education Minister of Russia. So it was a great treat i should say.
Dr Srimathy Kesan
Well, the opportunities are huge as now the parents have understood the importance of sending their children abroad for educational tourism because it's not only that they spend their valuable time on one particular thing for example, when I take children to
NASA or to Russia i not only take them to the Space Center but also to a couple of University’z there to give them handson experience and an awareness on what discipline are available across the globe and that apart, of course, a cultural tour and a cultural performance at the senate, Universities etc.. is an add on. During the Olympics at London, 2012 I did have the opportunity to take first ever contingent of children (about 100 of them), to perform at the London Olympics. I consider that as an education by itself as children learnt the culture and history of not only London but various Countries who had flown there to participate in the Olympics. The interactions definitely paves way to many unique and new ideas. Well, on the contrary I am working hard with all the Governments of all the States in India and also knocking at the
doors of the Central Government continuously showcasing the importance of having a Space research centre here in India. Ofcourse, we have ISRO, but ISRO is a governmental organisation with lot of restrictions to get into the lab facilities etc. It would be nice if we're able to build up a mock just like the Kennedy space center and the GCTC here in India. It is a huge revenue generating model and I am very very sure that across Asia and the Middle East we will be the number one country to have this set up and that will not only develop the space enthusiasm among children,but, economics too. I always have this itch in my mind, we are promoting two different Countries and spending huge money and visiting them instead have one built here, we should be working hard to create revenue for our Country, “Space”,being the craze for children across the globe and i am very very sure that it will be a successful model if we have one here in India and in fact it's my dream and I have already named it as “Bharatiya Antariksh Kendra”.. Any critical observation you have of the industry Visiting India is an absolutely economical preposition for anybody living in Europe or United States because of their currency exchange strength. In India not many Institutions or Organisations have any structured programs for overseas students and also now in the recent past because of the secu-
EDU-TRAVEL rity being great issue not many parents are really willing to send female children to India which is really sad. India has so much to offer for the people across the World, one Country though called a sub continent has everything equivalent to a huge Continent and unfortunately, we are unable to flourish in the tourism sector, due to certain miscreants. I hope things will settle down and we are able to raise our tourism inflow. What are the milestones that space kidz india has achieved over the years? Milestones of Space Kidz India have been amazing from the start as we are travelling in the unique path creating different opportunities and continuously updating our goals and programs to go ahead. SKI is the one and only organization in the world to launch *7 BallonSats, 2 Sub-orbital satellites one being launched from NASA i.e,
KALAMSAT on 22nd June 2017 and another Satellite SKISAT launched from a private Aerospace company in the United States and also 1 Orbital satellite i.e, KALAMSAT V2 which we built in 6 days and was launched by ISRO on 24th Jan 2019. We had started with taking studentz to the Space camps to NASA, ESA & Russian Space center being the first ambassador from India for such programs. Until date we have had the opportunity to take 2000 students to such educational camps and transformed many lives and now into launching satellites and so on... we have also taken children to perform Indian art and Culture across the globe, as we are very passionate towards showcasing Indian art and culture. Hence, we are very proud to say that we had taken a contingent of 100 children to perform at the London Olympics and also we do not leave a room for any such opportunities even during
the Space Camps. Also we have created many records with these amazing projects such as : First ever 3D printed and world's lightest satellite KALAMSAT in 2017 SKISAT launched in 2018 with most number of sensors launched in a reusable rocket which was captured by “Fox News”, New York city. The Limca book of records for being the first pri ate organisation in India to launch balloon satellite in 2015. Asia book of records, India book of records, URF world record and many more... for First ever 3D printed and world's lightest satellite KALAMSAT in 2017 also this news was published in more than 900+ media including international media houses. India book of records for the balloon satellite for reaching the highest altitude ever i.e, 1,22,000 ft which was launched from Bikaner, Rajasthan, India. India book of records and Asia book of Records for the first ever bi-
ography to be printed near space at an altitude of 1,22,000 ft. The biography which was printed near space was Dr. A.P.J Abdul kalam and Honourable CM of Rajasthan Ms. Vasundhara Raje in 2018. Also the first ever organization to create a Human rocket formation and create an “Asia book of Record”. What’s the future perspective like? Current project - Educrypt It is the first in the world to introduce Blockchain technology to store educational transcripts as there have been lots of students who have suffered with the loss of certificates. This method of storage will keep the Certificates safe forever and also the verification process will be quick and easy, hence, this will also make the process for higher education and jobs eazy and mundane free. This is truly a milestone project of ours which we will be launching soon
and that apart we are also coming up with a basic “mini PC “ ( SKI Mango Plus) to teach coding for children from the ages of 7 years until 22 years because coding is something which is found to be very difficult and not intricately taught in the schools and colleges hence,we thought probably we should fill in that gap and we should be making the children's life easy by teaching them using online coding methodology. Also, we have a number of Space projects for coming years starting with our next Satellite “VIKRAM SAT”, which we are planning to launch this August on the occasion of the Centenary celebration of our Father of Space Technology- Dr. Vikram sarabhai, and then to manufacture and launch a “reusable rocket”, with latest technologies and then moving on to one of our dream project to land a “Rover on the Moon”. The above said are all the projects in the pipeline of SKI.
Visit Houston focuses on strengthening ties in the India market Reema Lokesh Mumbai INDIA is the natural choice for a number of tourism destinations and its been a popular practice for destinations within mega destinations aiming to connect with the Indian travel fraternity. Visit Houston, is set to showcase itself and connect with potential tourism trade partners to take forward their business initiatives. Their objective is to introduce the destination to the Indian travellers for them to experience what the fourth largest city in the United States has to offer in the leisure and the MICE space. Their plan is to focus on the vast shopping options in Houston, culinary and cultural tourism and also the Space Center Houston, as their top attraction. According to Jorge Franz,
JorgeFranz
Rati Dhodapkar
senior vice president of tourism, Visit Houston, “Houston is known to be a very authentic American destination, . It is very diverse and thus, very welcom-
ing. We have one of the largest Indian populations in the United States and that has heavily influenced the growth of travelers from India to Houston. I think
the fact that we are home to Space Center Houston and NASA, the core of America’s space program is our key asset. With the immense interest that many Indians have in high tech and engineering, this will be our primary promotional tool and advantage.” Their aim is to first present the product to a specific target market, namely, families and couples who have already visited the United States. They are keen to connect with travellers who are looking for the next place to travel in the USA as they understand though not a first timers choice, they are confident to bring the second or third time traveller to the USA over to Houston. Speaking about the India market, Franz, added that, “I was particularly impressed by the knowledge that many Indians in the tourism industry already have about Hous-
ton. That VFR traffic has really helped us. I also saw an opportunity for Houston with Incentive travel. Lastly, I was also impressed by how quickly the whole industry has evolved since my first visit to India 10 years ago. I’m a big believer in slow, steady growth. To increase travel to Houston, we must first show real long term commitment to the Indian market. The good thing is that we are here for the long haul” Adding further to his opinion is Rati Dhodapkar, CEO. East West Marketing- India, “We are very happy that Visit Houston has come to India to promote Houston to the Indian travel fraternity. Houston will add a new dimension to the USA itinerary and give the Indian outbound traveller an opportunity to explore the various attractions that Houston has to offer”
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IN THE NEWS
What it takes to plan high profile weddings An insightful look within. By Aarti Manocha This is the Part 1 feature of what I feel are the intricacies that go into planning a high profile wedding. It so details the very aspect of planning and executing a high profile wedding that I felt it’s prudent to divide it into two parts. Catch Part 2 on the Express TravelWorld digital platform. To get the insights of how the ‘truly' big fat Indian weddings are planned and executed, we reached out to Aarti Manocha, founder and managing director of Milestones to Memories (MtoM). MtoM in a short span of three years has handled weddings and social events
for the elite and HNI families from India, for industrialists, real estate developers and celebrities in various destinations within India and internationally. The most recent feather in its cap has been to play a small but vital role in Akash Ambani’s wedding. It has been almost a decade since I have been planning and handling weddings and it’s interesting to experience the transformation that the industry is going through. From an unstructured segment, it has become a structured industry by
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itself. Planning weddings for elite families could be exciting but definitely challenging. To exceed or meet the expectations of these families isn’t a cake walk. How does the process start? There are times when the couple or families have decided on the destination and are just looking for a planner who could fulfil their wishlist. Very often, they are clear of what they want and expect from the planner. However, there are also the ones who depend on the planner to give suggestions right from destination to hotel, artist, entertainment, catering and on everything that goes into a wedding. Generally, these are perceived to be the more challenging ones. However, over the years I enjoy these and thrive on such projects where it's a blank canvas and we can paint it for these families. It all starts with a meeting wherein I like to get familiar with the families and assess their likes and dislikes, the do's and don’ts that they have thought of for the wedding celebrations. I prefer to hear the don’ts more, specially from the couple. Post which we put on our thinking caps and come up with appropriate suggestions for the destinations to begin with. This part is the most time consuming one and needs a lot of meetings, recces and finally the filtration process to shortlist the top two or three and then pin down to the chosen destination. Once the destination is chosen, we set a milestones calendar with the family, listing all the big and small tasks that we need to achieve as we begin on the journey towards the wedding. We draw up a detailed checklist for all key departments of the wedding, mainly hospitality and logistics, RSVPs and guest relations, decor and production, artists and entertainment. Ideally the wedding planner is like the captian of the ship and is the one who deals and man-
ages all the other stakeholders involved in the wedding on behalf of the families. However, with the HNI segment, specially the really large scale and elite ones, the families at times involve multiple planners entrusting a few or couple of these departments to each. It's their own team that manages all these stakeholders and various planners involved. This is mainly only because the scale is extremely large and they prefer to have various planners exert their energies and expertise in that particular area of work. I clearly love the ones, wherein I am the captian of the ship. Undoubtedly, it comes with a lot of accountability and consumes you totally from the time you are appointed until the wedding is done well, but it is always a great learning experience. Working with the who’s who always helps us expand our horizons, learn different perspectives and involves a lot of research and setting of newer goals. Clearly, technology has introduced smart and efficient ways of tackling large numbers and ensuring zero errors. Automated intelligent excel sheets linked to apps are the way forward. When it comes to high profile guest lists and the numbers are large, then there is clearly no scope for error or mistakes. Automation and intelligent softwares help by cutting out the mutual intervention which helps us save time and avoid margins for error. With HNI weddings, handling a vast list of international and domestic guests, involves various steps from the invitations going out to them, to receiving their RSVPs, updations, to emailing regular communications. From this list, the numbers are clearly derived that help us in planning few aspects of the wedding such as travel, seating arrangements, meal counts, staff to guest ratios, etc.
IN THE NEWS
‘WE WORKTOWARDS IMPROVING THE VISA OFFER ON AN ONGOING BASIS’ Vishal Bhatia, country manager- India, Visit Britain, shares his views on the plans and strategy of Visit Britain and the future roadmap. By Reema Lokesh How would you describe the evolution of VisitBritain in the India market India is a huge tourism opportunity for VisitBritain. We recognise India’s long-term potential as an inbound tourism market. India is forecast to generate 23 million outbound visits globally by 2020 and with the Indian economy growing at a rapid pace, inbound tourism to the UK from this market looks set to continue to grow. The UK is the second most popular destination in Europe for Indian travellers and we want it to top the list as number one! India is a top 20 market for us (17th for the number of visits and 14th for the amount that visitors spend) with about 562,000 visits annually from India to the UK with visitors spending about £454 million in 2017.. VisitBritain is expecting visits from India to the UK to increase 21 percent between 2017 and 2027. What are the key focus areas for business growth and market penetration? VisitBritain is focused on inspiring visitors from India to explore more, travel further and stay longer when they visit Britain. We want Indian trav-
ellers to experience more of regional England and are promoting family travel during the winter months with a campaign focused on London, Manchester and Liverpool. VisitBritain is also working with partners in market including airlines, content partners and tour operators to promote accessibility to England through regional gateways that offer connecting routes on Middle Eastern carriers have also been growing fast, providing access to travellers from Tier 1 and 2 cities within India to regional British cities including Birmingham, Edinburgh, Glasgow, Manchester and Newcastle on Etihad Airways and Oman Air. We are also promoting the ease of rail travel within the UK. Through our ‘Find Your GREAT Britain, I Travel For… campaign we are tailoring content to the passions that inspire India travellers including food and drink experiences, culture and sport, while also promoting Britain as the place to travel to right now for new adventures, undiscovered experiences and tourism products that visitors cannot get elsewhere. Building partnerships and engaging with our travel trade
tourism products and experiences on offer as well as the promotion of new products and customised itineraries. We continue to host educational trips to destinations across the UK. We very much encourage the Indian travel trade to use the tools we have created. This year of course sees the Cricket World Cup hosted in England and Wales from May to July and we see this as a promising platform to strengthen our tourism ties.
Vishal Bhatia
partners who can amplify our messages and increase distribution is very important to VisitBritain’s work in India, and we have a senior trade relations role in Delhi. Is there a distinct strategy applied for India that is unique? VisitBritain appreciates and values the importance of the travel trade in India and works closely with Cox and Kings, Thomas Cook and Wego. We continue to extend our activity to Tier 2 cities, holding training sessions for the travel trade on UK destinations and the latest
Is there a marketing strategy that VB focuses on? In addition to our Find Your GREAT Britain, I Travel For...campaign, we plan to uplift consumer marketing activity to inspire our audience to visit Britain now. We want visitors from India to spend more time exploring and experiencing Britain. To tap into the leisure, business and VFR segment we are promoting short breaks focusing on Birmingham, Edinburgh, Liverpool, London and Manchester, coupled with the surrounding countryside. We continue to build on our existing partnerships and work with new ones, amplifying our marketing and converting the inspiration to visit Britain in actual
bookings. Your views on Brexit and its impact on tourism? Tourism is one of Britain’s most valuable export industries, its third largest service export and growing faster than many other sectors. And tourism needs no trade deals to continue to thrive and to attract overseas investment. VisitBritain is forecasting 40 million inbound visits overall to the UK by 2020, the first time it will break through the 40 million visit mark. Visas is a major concern. Can you throw some light on it? We welcome all initiatives that improve our competitive tourism offer globally. The UK has 18 Visa Application Centres in India, more than in any other country, and has continued to expand its premium and priority services. We are and will continue to work with the trade and UKVI to provide a platform for engagement and work towards improving the visa offer on an ongoing basis. VisitBritain does not undertake visa processing, however we continue to talk to the India travel trade and businesses to understand their concerns.
Israel MoT conducts the eighth Israel ‘Where Else’Tourism Conference ETW Staff Mumbai IN ITS 8TH EDITION, ‘Where Else’ conference is the official tourism conference held annually by the Israel Ministry of Tourism for the world travel fraternity. The week-long convention from February 7-13, 2019 was attended by 80 travel
agents from 18 countries. Held in Tel Aviv, senior members of the tourism industry from around the world participated in tours of key sites in Israel with support from the regional tourism associations, hotel associations and the Israel Incoming Tour Operators Association. Speaking about the familiarisation trip, Hassan Madah, direc-
tor, Israel ministry of tourism India and Philippines said, “Israel is currently witnessing tremendous momentum in tourism with a record of 4.12 million tourists in 2018. Arrivals from India have also increased to 70,800 visitors last year making it the 12th source market for the destination. Bearing this in mind, it was imperative for us to
showcase Israel to the travel trade of India through our biggest annual tourism conference in Israel. Travellers today are evolved and informed and are constantly scouting for newer and niche experiences. Through the conference and FAM, it gave us an opportunity to display varied tourism offerings of the country while con-
necting agents to key stakeholders in Israel.” In attendance were six travel agents from India such as Odyssey Tours and Travels, A Travel Duet – Celebrating Togetherness, Bigbreaks.com, Gainwell Enterprises, Quintessential Vacations and Swastika Holiday Solutions accompanied by Madah.
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SPOTLIGHT
Meaningful luxury: It goes beyond the tangible
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he term Luxury especially as it is understood in the travel and tourism sector has changed meanings and evolved through the years. The real luxury makers and those who understand the word with all its intangible facets cringe when the refined word is used loosely and irresponsibility. For many luxury is still opulence but for the real luxury takers its a world that goes beyond the opulence. It is all about meaningful luxury that touches the core, it's all about felling time rich and not cash rich, its not about buying tangible but its about cherishing the intangible It’s all about ornate experiences coupled with lasting memories, when time, place and space is valued not by the wealth that’s apparent but the wealth that is felt within. The Indian outbound luxury scene has witnessed all these changes over the years. Luxury today is highly subjective and so is its definition. Reema Lokesh gets views from four industry industry professionals who also believe that the word has witnessed some serious transformation.
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Kanan Fotedar, founder and CEO TravelnLiving Outbound travel from India is growing rapidly not just from the leading metros but also from India's Tier II and III cities. With Indian low cost airlines like Go Air and Spice Jet flying overseas and Air Asia offering low fares, overseas travel is more afford-
Kanan Fotedar
able. Number of countries offering Indians visa on arrival has increased the outbound travel immensely. People now save mainly to travel, this change in mindset replicates the first and second world countries. However what has evolved with this change is the way the word luxury has transformed. Luxury travel need not necessary mean expensive. Luxury travel is rather defined as affordable quality travel where niche experience is the criteria. Biking around on foothills of Dolomites is luxury travel, not necessarily in a Alpha Romeo convertible. Opting for a simple experience of a cooking class in Tokyo is luxury, similarly kayaking with seals in Namibia, Walvis Bay is nothing less of a luxury to be able to experience it once at least in your lifetime. Luxury travel today is affordable travel with off season deals, advance non refundable bookings, long stay offers, competition amongst the luxury hotels, all these factors have contributed a great deal of luxury travel even for people who don’t belong in the rich category of population. Luxury travel is most sought after, as long as
it’s within reach. Quantity holidays have been replaced with quality holidays as people appreciate what comes there way when luxury holiday is opted for.
Purvi Jhaveri, director, Sunday Pure Holidays Back in the 90’s, travel was primarily limited to the very wealthy. Since then conditions have changed dramatically and India has burst onto global tourism in a huge way. With rising personal income levels and a massive change in lifestyles, a huge segment of middle class who enjoyed low-cost airfares and the diversity in travel packages, contributed to India’s fastest growing outbound travel market. Every year more than 5.4 million Indians go abroad to conduct business, attend meetings, study, sight-seeing, shop, honeymoon, visit friends and relatives (VFR). With more than 20 million Indian nationals now living throughout the world (3.4 million in the US), the volume of outbound travel is increasing about 25 per cent a year. With a population of 1.3 billion, India is moving to become
SPOTLIGHT to these global retail brands and increase consumer access.
Veneeta Rawat, founder and director, Amazing Vacations In the past few years, we have seen a distinct evolution of the Indian traveller . There is a certain hunger to discover new and exciting destinations. Worldwide too, the interest in India as a great consumer market has increased leading to more tourism bodies opening their offices in India. While speaking about the luxury market, as I see it luxury has a different meaning
Purvi Jhaveri
the fourth largest travel and tourism economy after China, USA and Germany. Keeping this in view, the term luxury travel has also changed meanings with time. Luxury travel as we see it today is about experience; it’s all about how you feel the wonder. It’s not always about an appearance. It evolves around enrichment, exclusivity and authenticity. Through our eyes, luxury means your comfort zone, your likes/dislikes, your inclinations, your dreams. Its not always about staying in branded hotels. It also means how can we curate a memorable holiday for you. It’s all about stepping into the comfort zone of the client and co-creating an ideal meaningful trip for them. Speaking about India's performance in the luxury space, India’s luxury segment has taken a while to take off, but we are now getting comfortable with the whole idea of spending on the finer things in life. We are still young in the development of the luxury retail market but we are grabbing the attention of the Global Brands. Since end of 2016, we have faced numerous challenges which has directly impacted the luxury segment. The various policies of demonetisation, pan card, GST & Rs two lakh limit then, impacted this budding luxury segment coming up slowly, but these changes may turn out to be favourable in the long run. Consumers in India are always looking for a good bargain and good value at the same time and they often land up shopping in Dubai, London, Singapore, USA due to the same brands being cheaper abroad and import duty in India being very high. But very recently our government has approved 100 per cent FDI for single brand retail trading which will now provide flexibility
Veneeta Rawat
for everyone. So it can no longer be classified into a certain type. Today many brands call themselves luxury, in actuality are just different - but may not actually have the oomph to be luxury. Who doesn’t want to holiday in the lap of luxury? The influx of so many consumer brands have also led to many travellers opting for luxury vacations. Many people have become brand conscious and their want to experience the same is heightened especially with the awareness. This is great as it means greater options to upsell. Luxury can mean different things for different people. Many brands call themselves luxury but actually maybe just different. Not that they are bad, but the exclusivity may not be there. Luxury travel in India basically means more opulence, and that’s what sells well.
Nagsri Prasad Sashidhar, chief happiness officer, NAGSRI ….. Creating Special Memories India outbound is one of the fastest growing segments in tourism today with an estimated 50 million tourists by 2020. The Indian outbound traveller is evolving rapidly and getting
more and more aware and adventurous, willing to try out new cuisine, new destinations and experiences all thanks to the changing lifestyles, huge middle class segment, availability of low cost air fares and diverse choice of travel packages being available both offline and online. This trend is on an upward and here to stay and we will take over as the worlds youngest country demographically, tech savy and also with the growing educated middle and upper middle class. When travelling abroad, Indians are also the worlds highest spenders which makes our market extremely desirable for several countries. This also has an interesting connect to how the luxury travel has evolved over the years. I think personally the meaning of luxury was born in India. Dating back to the time of the royals. Linking luxury to just the top brands is a very western concept and commoditises the meaning itself, something that one can buy off the shelf. To me luxury is all about customisation, about having the right contacts, about getting invited to events rather than having to buy tickets for it, about having that “pull”, making a memory special. It is rather difficult to really demarcate a luxury customer in India today cause it really could be the wife of a diamond merchant in Gujarat or a swank investment banker in Mumbai. As I see it, luxury is a very personal emotion. To me it's more about access to people, places and experiences therein that makes the entire experience as authentic as it can get. It is something that should make one feel special, happy, relaxed, it could be a bed that gives one a good nights sleep or to be away from the madness of city routine, to be away from gizmos and the mobile, to reconnect with self. To several others it could also mean staying in seven-star hotels, driving the most expensive cars or eating at the best Michelin star restaurants. Hence luxury travel does cover a broad spectrum with differing connotations to each one. I also see the luxury space providing some amazing opportunities for business. Curating holidays to meet the taste of my clients and convert that into memories for a lifetime is the foundation of my business. Considering the growing airline options available to many new destinations, easy visa facilitation for many countries, Commitment of many countries by opening a full time office here in India, growing disposable income segment
Nagsri Prasad Sashidhar
in our country today, the need to take holidays and good ones at that is on the rise. Such clients are also open to trying out new destinations and off the beaten track experiences there. They are used to a certain lavish lifestyle back home and understandably would like that replicated whilst on a holiday too. Every country has something unique to offer and this is where the opportunity comes in. The key is to marry the right product with the right client to be able to achieve that memorable experience you are wanting to create. Eg what can be more special than working with a team of professional wildlife rescue officers in the Masai Mara of Kenya for a week to ten days if you are a die hard wild life fanatic, or taking a helicopter to a secluded island in the Great Barrier Reef with your special person on your special day. With opportunities come the challenges, and like I always say they are two sides of the same coin. The tax laws need to be revisited to make them more agent friendly, onslaught of online travel portals need to be checked, there needs to be a single strong board for the agents which regulates the number and the quality of travel companies starting up, thereby reducing the segmented nature of our fraternity. Especially in present times, the word niche, bespoke and luxury are used very loosely and this causes immense confusion in the minds of the end consumer and negates the efforts of the genuine players who are honestly trying to work the best for such clients. Eventually the true luxury client then ends up booking the trip overseas as he thinks that we Indian operators are not capable of understanding his needs.
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IN FOCUS
Sporting spirit: A niche opportunity
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he concept of sports tourism which was rather spoken in the stands is now alive and kicking on the ground complete with all action. Reema Lokesh receives views with three travel industry professionals who have made inroads in this niche field and have finding it a powerful zone to be in. Let's see their insights on Sports Tourism and its increased relevance in the tourism sector.
We have seen this segment of the travel industry evolve and come into its own over the past 15 years
Dimple Gandhi, director, Cutting-Edge Events Cutting Edge is a boutique travel management company focusing on sports tourism, MICE and leisure travel. Founded in 2004, our company has realised the power of this sector quite early in time. We have been as-
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Dimple Gandhi
sociated with sporting events in India since a while and have been associated with some of the world’s premier sports organisations such as FIFA, ICC and IPL and have created customised tours to the world’s leading sports events such as the FIFA World Cup, Formula One and World Cup Cricket. Some of our recent exclusive appointments include the following: Exclusive Sales Agent of F1 Experiences in India for the Formula One 2018 & 2019 Seasons, The Exclusive Hospitality sales Agent for the FIFA Confederation Cup 2017 and FIFA World Cup 2018 in Russia. According to me, sports tourism in simple terms means travelling primarily to watch sporting events. We have seen this segment of the travel industry evolve and come into its own over the past 15
IN FOCUS years. Some of the recent trends are as follows: 1) While cricket is and will for a while remain the most coveted of all sports, we have seen tremendous increase in interest and travel for football, Olympics, tennis Grand Slams and Formula One, 2) Corporates are increasingly planning their MICE calendars around major sports events as they are a huge draw for employees and clients alike, 3) Some families, honeymooners and other travellers also plan their holidays to cover a match or two if they are visiting a country that is hosting a major sporting event. 4) We are seeing a lot of younger clientele in their 30s with higher disposable incomes enjoying sports tours. 5) Families and spouses are increasingly joining the sports tours which were earlier dominated by men. This typically increases the length of the tour and families end up visiting other tourism attractions as well. 6) Many people end up visiting destinations that otherwise would not have featured on their travel wishlist.
runners going to run one of the most scenic marathons in the world and since last year their focus has been to promote experiential travel and the demand to organise such running tours has increased over time. The company has also launched a special website dedicated for running tours that has started with Berlin Marathon this year. They also plan to soon add a few more exciting runs across the world. “What better way to see the world than reducing the carbon footprints through active participation,” concluded Motwani.
Subhash Motwani, founder and director, Namaste Tourism Another travel company that is seeing business sense in sports tourism and especially marathon and running tours is Namaste Tourism. It has recently forayed into marathon tours to expand its experiential travel portfolio. Namaste Tourism, an initiative of Compact Travels Mumbai, an experiential travel company, with effect from 2019 has been appointed as an official tour partner for one of the world's major marathons - the Berlin Marathon which will be held on September 29, 2019 in Berlin. Subhash Motwani, founder and director of Namaste Tourism who is also a marathoner having completed several marathons and half marathons including the Midnight Sun Run in Tromso, Norway ; the Basel Marathon and the Amsterdam marathon where he ran 42.195 kilometres was excited to add one to the world major marathons where over 45000 runners each year run the full marathon in September - a distance of 42.195 kilometres. Motwani says the demand for active tourism, whether it is cycling or marathons or Iron Man tours is increasing as more people are getting active and wish to experience cities through sight-jogging trips.” He further adds that in 2017, they had few
Subhash Motwani
The demand for active tourism, whether it is cycling or marathons or Iron Man tours is increasing as more people are getting active and wish to experience cities through sight-jogging trips
Gauri Jayaram, founder, Active Holiday Company Another Indian company that is looking at sports tourism rather seriously is Bengaluru-based Active Holiday Company. It has been recently appointed as official tour operator in India for the TCS New York City Marathon. With this Active Holiday Company becomes the first Indian travel firm to become the Official Tour Operator for all six Abbott World Marathon Majors. The TCS New York City Marathon is regarded to be the largest marathon in the world with 52,811 finishers in 2018. As per information from Gauri Jayaram, founder, Active Holiday Company, in the 49 years of the race’s history, this is the first time New York Road Runners (NYRR), the organisers of the TCS New York City Marathon, has appointed an Indian company to promote and popularise the race amongst Indian marathon runners. The TCS New York City Marathon works with tour operators in 51 countries. India ranks in the top 20 markets in terms of the number of runners who travel to New York to run the race, many of who aspire to complete of the Abbott World Marathon Majors. The Abbott World Marathon Majors (AWMM) is a grand slam of marathons where participants run a full marathon in six of the world’s best-known races: Tokyo, Boston, London, Berlin, Chicago and New York. Runners who complete all six races are awarded the prestigious ‘Six Star Medal’ and finishers are featured on the AWMM website. “We are excited to welcome Active Holiday Company as an official International Tour Operator for the 2019 TCS New York City Marathon and are eager to further engage with the running community in India through this partnership. We look forward to hosting this year’s runners from India and wish them all the best as they begin their incredible journey to the 2019 TCS New York City Marathon,” said Michael Capiraso, president and CEO at NYRR. According to Procam International the size of India’s marathon business is pegged at US$ 200mn. “We are incredibly proud to be part of the 2019 TCS New York City Marathon, one of the world’s greatest marathons! Since 2014, we have served hundreds of Indians running international races and we believe that we have tremendous value to add to the runners’ experience, which is the ultimate aim of NYRR as well. In addition to guaranteed entry, registering for the TCS
Gauri Jayaram
We are incredibly proud to be part of the 2019 TCS New York City Marathon, one of the world’s greatest marathons! Since 2014, we have served hundreds of Indians running international races
New York City Marathon through an international tour operator provides hassle-free travel arrangements, giving runners the chance to focus on their race. Runners will also have the opportunity to meet and interact with other participants from across the nation who form part of the Indian contingent,” said Jayaram. Marathon tour operating first emerged as a business in the USA about 40 years ago. Since then a niche of travel organisations have emerged offering expertise and comfort to runners by helping them plan their marathon journeys as well as helping cities and countries popularise this type of tourism.
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IN THE NEWS
From Peril to Suvival, to Revival – The Chilika Lagoon rebirth story The story of Chilika Lagoon is marvel. It's a story of revival and rejuvenation of a lake that was a victim of neglect. A team of visionaries decided to not let it die. Being concerned with the rapid decline of the lake, the Government of Odisha created Chilika Development Authority (CDA) in the year 1992. Though constituted in the year 1992, it was only that after Dr Ajit Kumar Pattnaik took over as chief executive of CDA in 1997, the restoration of the lagoon commenced in right earnest. He shares his views with Express TravelWorld
C
hilika is a nature’s bounty, hemmed between the Eastern Ghats and the Bay of Bengal, filled with enchanting beauty. Famous as the largest wintering ground of migratory bird of Asiatic subcontinent, endowed with rich biodiversity including some endemic species which are not found anywhere in the world, it is also the provider of livelihood for a million people who depend on its fishery resources and live in its catchment. However, its ecosystem started deteriorating due to various anthropogenic pressures and other natural process resulting in loss of its productivity and biodiversity. This adversely impacted the livelihood of more than 0.2 million local communities due to plummeting fish production. By the end of the 80’s, it had deteriorated so much that Ramsar Bureau put it in the Montreux Record (threatened list of Ramsar site) in 1993 due to change in the ecological characters. The lake was turning towards a fresh water ecosystem and its biodiversity was threatened. The suffering of the community became precarious as they have to leave their village and to migrate outside the state in search of employment, leaving behind their children and their families in great distress.
Addressing the problem The factors responsible for such deterioration were siltation, and choking of inlet resulting in poor inflow of sea water
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and fall of salinity leading to change in its ecological characters and proliferation of invasive species. Being concerned with the rapid decline of the lake, the Government of Odisha created Chilika Development Authority (CDA) in the year 1992. Though constituted in the year 1992, Dr Ajit Kumar Pattnaik felt it was time someone took up the case in all earnestly. He took over as Chief Executive of Chilika Development Authority (CDA) in 1997 and that was the first step toward some serious action and restoration of the lagoon. After my joining I was able to formulate credible project proposal, which enabled the Chilika Development Authority to receive funds from Govt. of India and other sources to implement the much-needed restoration work. I could identify rather early that the key to the success of restoration of Chilika would be to trace the root cause of degradation and identification of the pressures on the lake ecosystem and initiate the restoration intervention based on the science with an ecosystem approach. Since Chilika is a sensitive eco-system, before going for any intervention he initiated extensive hydrological studies by commissioning the services of the premier institutes of the country to find out the best options to restore the complex ecosystem. Based on the outcome of the rigorous numerical model studies, one of the major interventions was the desiltation of the outer-channel, which connects the lagoon to
Dr Ajit Kumar Pattnaik
the sea by dredging, (and opening of an artificial mouth). This was a huge task that involved a number of critical decisions, liasoning with various national and international institutions and experts, and the government. This bold hydrological intervention resulted in significant improvement of salinity flux and tidal flux in to the lake as predicted by the Central Water and Power Research Station, Pune. The hydrological intervention was carried out based on the outcome of the rigorous model study carried out by Central Water & Power Research Station (CWPRS) Pune. All credit goes to Dr L K Ghosh, joint director CWPRS, who carried out the model study and confidently recommended the hydrological intervention. The strategy for carrying out this challenging intervention was developed by Dr. P. Sundarvadivellu, professor, Ocean Engineering Center, IIT(M) Chennai. Equal credit goes to my colleagues from CDA, S K Nanda,
executive engineer and D K Nayak, assistant engineer. Last but not the least M Sekar, director Tebma Marine who provided unconditional support by way of executing this challenging task, as this type of work with such degree of precision was executed for the first time in Asia. The tireless and passionate efforts of the above individuals have been crucial for making this impossible task possible more than that their unconditional support to me was the real driving force in taking this bold decision which saved this unique lake ecosystem from peril and brought a new lease of life.
From Survival to Revival Due to improvement of the salinity regime the freshwater invasive species gradually reduced, the seagrass meadows expanded and the fish production improved significantly due to successful breeding migration and auto recruitment. The strategic intervention not only resulted in rejuvenation of the lagoon ecosystem but immensely benefited the fishers whose livelihood was jeopardised. The fish production has gone up by seven times in comparison to the average yield prior to the intervention. The other ecological performance indicators have been expansion of the sea grass species and their diversity, spread of habitat of endangered Irrawady dolphin are few such example. It also resulted in flushing sediment, reduction of fresh water invasive
species like water hyacinth, quick discharge of floodwater etc. Restoration of such complex system needs careful planning wide consultation and lot of spadework. To accomplish this, my mission was to make the community understand the values and function as well the ecosystem services flowing from the lagoon thereby making them informed and responsible resource user. Chilika is important habitat for migratory birds. Some of the fishers had adopted poaching of birds as their sole means of livelihood after the decline in fish production. To save the birds and at the same time to restore the livelihood of fishers he took a novel step by way of convincing the commercial banks and the local NGOs to arrange soft-term loan to these fishers so that they can adopt alternate mode for livelihood. Apart from persuading the villagers to abandon the poaching, they were also encouraged to form birds protection committee at village level and adopt ecotourism . For the first time in the history of Chilika thousands of nests and the eggs of a number of rails and coots could be saved starting from the year 2001.
Community based development This is an innovative bottom up approach by way of formulation of the micro plan blended with indigenous knowledge at the grass root level for optimum utilization of the natural resources to increase productiv-
IN THE NEWS ity. The watershed community also shares the part of the cost of treatment which ensures their involvement. This is also creating a conducive environment for the local community to take decisions and to understand the problem through a holistic perspective. The gender issue is also addressed in the project area by way of formation of the self-help groups and steps were taken for their capacity building by way of trainings in the field of bee keeping, broom making, fishery, leaf plate making, cane and bamboo crafts, pottery, dairy, poultry farming and horticulture. Amazingly, this has helped the women to supplement their family income. This has also facilitated the empowerment of the women against the prevailing social taboo. The holistic management of the natural resource at the
grass-root level also resulted in the conflict resolution. The ageold village level conflict and difference of opinion could be resolved through the implementation of the participatory micro-watershed development programme. It also helped in restoring the communal harmony as the watershed committee could resolve the conflicts and issues at the village level in their own way. Since more than two lakh people depend on the lagoon, while formulating the management plan, stakeholders consultation is done by holding village level meetings. The outcome of the meeting is in the form of suggestions and recommendations are incorporated into the management action plan. The linkages with the community through the village level institutions, women Self Help Groups,
Community Based Organizations, networking of the NGOs is a mandate in their restoration programme. A network of NGOs and the CBOs working in and around the lagoon has been established. A dolphin watching protocol is developed based on the study conducted through noninvasive Passive Acoustic Monitoring(PAM) by use of customized hydrophones. World class visitors amentias are also developed at 6 locations which are considered as gate ways to Chilika lake. To improve the socio-economic condition of the communities, who live in and around Chilika, communication facilities in form of ferry service, construction of Jetties, solar lighting system in the island villages, biogas plant, improved cook stoves, community centres, road networks, were de-
veloped by Chilika Development Authority. Health camps were also organized in the island villages and fishermen villages where no infrastructure for health services were available. The hallmark of the interventions by CDA have been the holistic approach adopted and measures in solving the problems of Chilika. The opening of the new mouth is considered as a watershed in the history of wetland restoration. This has been a very difficult task, both in terms of making the hard decision on an intervention of such far-reaching consequences and the implementation of its engineered themes at the same time winning people’s acceptability. The commissioning of the services of the premier institutes of the country and careful planning was the key to the success.
The community participation, linkage with the various national and international institutions, intensive monitoring and assessment system are some of the uniqueness of the management practices adopted by CDA for restoration of this unique wetland. The most prudent and successful eco-restoration of Chilika have brought international recognition to CDA and Chilika and emerged as a global example. This testified from the removal of Chilika from threatened list with effect from November 11, 2002 by Ramsar convention. Chilika is first sitefrom Asia and one of the thirtysix sites those have been removed so far globally from Montreux Record due to successful restoration. (As told to Reema Lokesh)
‘DIFFERENTSTATES FROM INDIAHAVE THEIR PRESENCE ATBTTF’ Md. Taslim Amin (Shovon), director (Trade & Fair), Tour Operators Association of Bangladesh (TOAB) speaks about the forthcoming trade event and its connect with the India market. By Reema Lokesh What is the primary focus of the event? Bangladesh Travel and Tourism Fair (BTTF) is the leading exhibition for the travel and tourism industry in Bangladesh. It provides an annual opportunity for organisations from Bangladesh and abroad to showcase their products and services. Visitors can interact with touroperators, travel agents, hoteliers and airlines to gather information and make national and international travel plans. BTTF gives opportunity for exhibitors to connect directly with the largest gathering of prospective travellers and members of the travel industry. Tour Operators Association of Bangladesh (TOAB), is the leader in promoting travel and tourism Industry in Bangladesh. We are optimistic that the recent sociopolitical changes and the prevailing improved security and
harmony will help steady growth of the travel and tourism industry and put Bangladesh on the world tourist map as a thriving destination. The main focus is to promote and develop tourism sector in Bangladesh. What’s the target audience? BTTF is an excellent platform for exhibitors to develop South Asian market, converges the organisation and enterprises of global destination, attraction, airlines, cruise, hotels, travel agents, etc, provides them one-stop solution on displaying resource, developing channels, establishing brand. What are your expectations from India market? In the last 10 years Bangladeshi people have started to travel around the world. India has always been a top destination for Bangladeshi people. With the
lion Bangladeshi people are traveling to India each year. People from West Bengal and some part of the North East travel to Bangladesh to meet their relatives and to find their roots. While travelling they do not miss the opportunity to visit Cox’s Bazar, the longest sea beach in the world, hill tracks and Sundarbans as we have the major part of the forest and better facilities to visit the forest, archaeological sites etc. Recently more of the extended tours are coming from India. Md. Taslim Amin
ease of restriction to Sikkim and Seven Sisters, the number is rising gradually. The High Commission of India is now issuing over 6000 visas a day to Bangladeshi people for leisure, business, tourism, education and medical treatment. Approximately 2.2 mil-
What are the synergies you see in business? Cross border and regional tourism is the latest phenomena all over the world. In this regard Indian sub-continent has huge potentiality to work together. We have common tourism product which we can conduct together in a platform like BTTF. Neighbouring countries like India,
Nepal, Bhutan, Sri Lanka, Maldives, Myanmar, Thailand, Singapore, Malaysia, Cambodia are some of the examples for joint marketing efforts conducted by tour operators and NTOs. What are the various sessions and other highlights of the event? Apart from the main tourism exhibition, we emphasise on B2B sessions. Other sideline events like tourism seminars, round table discussions, presentations, country presentations, press conference, cultural shows and raffle draw during the fair make the fair colourful and vibrant. Different states from India have their presence. BTTF 2019 will be organised by TOAB for the ninth time from April 18 to 20, 2019 - a three day event, at the Bangabandhu International Convention Center (BICC), Dhaka.
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Cover-More reaffirms faith in the India market Reema Lokesh Mumbai THE TRAVEL insurance sector is going through an interesting growth phase. India's behaviour in terms of insurance buying is also undergoing a steady and positive shift as people can getting more tuned to the concept of insurance. In keeping with this future trend, major travel insurance global players are reaffirming their fiath in the India market. Recently, as travel insurance provider, Cover-More, part of Zurich Insurance Group, has reaffirmed a strong commitment to driving growth for their TrawellTag Cover-More business in India. The parent company finds the India market vibrant but also in the nascent stages of development. In Mumbai recently, Cover-More CEO, Asia Pacific, Judith Crompton
said, “India remains one of the most exciting economies in Asia with growth in travel insurance uptake almost double that of more mature markets. CoverMore remains very positive about the outlook for travel in India, especially international travel. And in recent years, we have also seen significant growth in the number of outbound travellers understanding the importance of quality travel insurance.” TrawellTag Cover-More is a travel assistance and insurance providers in India. Cover-More acquired TrawellTag in 2012 and subsequently Cover-More's global business the third largest travel insurance business in the world. Dev Karvat, founder and CEO, TrawellTag Cover-More, India and Emerging Markets said, that being part of a global player allowed the business in
India to intelligently apply Cover-More's travel insurance capabilities to de-commoditise the product offering and grow the share of the traveller wallet. He said, “In recent years, we have also become the partner of
choice for airlines and leading online travel agencies (OTAs) including GoAir, IndiGo and Goibibo which underlines the strength of our integrated travel insurance offer and our ability to deliver differentiated solutions
for our distribution partners.” “The next step for us is a deeper dive into the e-commerce sector with enhance technological know-how and support from the Cover-More and aligning that with the changing business scenarios in India,” he added. He informed that the company is investing heavily in technology and is upgrading its end to end services for the benefit of the clients. India's behaviour in terms of insurance buying is also undergoing a steady and positive shift as people can getting more tuned to the concept of insurance. Crompton was in India as part of Cover-More's new global growth strategy roll-out. She was appointed as Cover-More's CEO, Asia Pacific in October 2018; previously she was based in Zurich, Switzerland as CoverMore's CEO for Europe, Middle East and Africa.
IHCLenters new segment of plantations trails and home stays with the launch of Ama Trails and Stays Reema Lokesh Mumbai THE INDIAN Hotels Company (IHCL), seems to be back on track with a focused and grounded vision for the future,under the leadership of the curent MD and CEO. At its second Capital Markets Day reaffirmed its plans to expand and growth steadily in the coming years. At the event, the company entered a new segment, plantation trails and stays with the launch of Ama Trails and Stays, the first branded product in the homestay market in India. It signed a management contract with Tata Coffee for nine heritage bungalows in Coorg and Chikmagalur and will add two of its own bungalows in Goa by mid next year under the AMA umbrella. Ama Homestays will commence operations with two units in Candolim, Goa. “IHCL has launched Ama
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Trails and Stays in response to evolving guest needs for local, immersive and authentic experiences. We are delighted to partner with Tata Coffee for the first collection of plantation trails leveraging Tata Group synergies. With India's rich diversity we are confident that we will be able to scale this product to the first 100 units before the end of 2020 and bring distinctive offerings for our guests across the Indian sub-continent,” added Puneet Chhatwal, MD and CEO, IHCL. The Company also shared key updates on its five year business strategy, Aspiration 2022 – on its journey to become the most iconic and profitable company. “The management is pleased with the progress in its first year of Aspiration 2022. The reimagined brandscape with its portfolio of distinct brands allowed us to deliver a robust development pipeline. The company scaled up
Puneet Chatwal
its inventory with the signing of 20 new hotels adding approximately 3000 rooms across key cities such as London, Dubai, Makkah, New Delhi and Kathmandu. Strong fundamentals helped us drive higher returns through focused initiatives for margin expansion and asset management. All our employees have rallied around this one uni-
fying goal and have helped the Company stay motivated on executing the strategy,” said Chhatwal. It has spelled out its key pillars of strategy as Restructure, Reengineer and Reimagine. Restructuring: For the last nine months of the fiscal year the company sustained a positive performance quarter on quarter over the last year. It reported a 230 bps increase in EBITDA margins. The debt equity ratio has improved to 0.47. The company reimagined a multi-product, multi-segment brandscape to have a value proposition for customers at different points in their lifecycle. The new brandscape will have Taj, SeleQtions, Vivanta and Ginger. Ginger underwent a major repositioning and unveiled the brand's new look in the lean luxe segment at Ginger Panjim, Goa. The addition to its portfolio of brands, SeleQtions will be rolled out by March end.
The company also reinforced its iconic status by retaining the landmark Taj Mahal, New Delhi; renewed a long-term agreement for the legendary, Taj Lake Palace, Udaipur; and won the bid for The Connaught in Lutyens Delhi. Commencing April 2019, it will also take over the management of the 207 key Cidade de Goa. There was further update that the company opened four hotels - Taj Aravali Resort and Spa Udaipur, Taj Theog Resort and Spa, Shimla, Vivanta Kathmandu and the rebranded Vivanta Katra. The historic Taj Commara, Chennai dating back to 1854 reopened after undergoing and extensive renovation and redesign. IHCL announced an enhancement for its awardwinning loyalty programme, Taj InnerCircle with an exciting new partnership with Sixt, a global car rental company with a network of 2,200 + locations worldwide in over 105 countries.
THOUGHT LEADERS
‘DIGITALTRANSFORMATION WILLHAVE A CLEAR IMPACTON THE TRADITIONALMODELS’ Travel service providers, even for us in the visa services space, will have to adapt to these changes in consumer behaviour, innovate and be first movers in bringing fresh solutions driven by technology to customers, elucidates Zubin Karkaria, CEO, VFS Global Group By Reema Lokesh Your contribution to the travel and tourism industry has been path breaking. What are your key understandings from the sector? I started out in this industry back in college, over 30 years ago – first, helping out a friend in his travel firm, then being part of India’s foremost travel companies – and all along it’s been quite a journey – literally and figuratively! These were the years that coincided with the emergence of a newly liberalised economy in India and an overwhelming growth in the number of outbound travellers. Somewhere along this way, tourism pivoted from being the pastime or aspiration of a few, to a sort of must-do requirement for most urban citizens, not just in India but around the world. Judging by the record high in the numbers of global visa applications VFS Global witnessed in 2018, this tribe is growing! Technological innovation and changes in customer expectations in just the last decade or so have dramatically changed the way the industry functions. But what remains the same is that the Customer is still the undisputed King, more today than ever before, demanding conveniences and services delivered to his doorstep, or his smartphone! The sector is fast-changing, with new solutions being introduced in some part of the globe or the other with great frequency – each one raising the bar in convenience higher than the last. As an industry professional, what are your key learning
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oped in collaboration with Thailand Immigration – using this service, applicants no longer have to stand in the long Visa On Arrival queues at major Thai airports. We also launched the first transactional mobile app (for UAE evisas) through which applicants can apply for e-visas through their mobile devices. We truly believe only those that innovate will be able to retain a competitive edge.
Zubin Karkaria
and findings? The industry has evolved over the last decade, not just in the visa space, but across the tourism industry as well. Across the board, governments and citizens alike are demanding better, convenient, seamless solutions and higher service standards. This trend is expected to continue, driven by a new breed of consumers who expect and appreciate more agility and convenience in all manner of services, even in the closely regulated visa process. Developing more customercentric services will remain as the cornerstone of all services within the travel sector, and the same goes for the visa industry. For instance, the Visa At Your Doorstep Service is one such service that effectively brings the entire visa application process, including biometric enrolment, to the applicant’s doorstep. Another service launched recently in February 2019, is the Thailand eVisa On Arrival (eVOA) service devel-
What according to you are the pressing concerns that cause the bottlenecks in the industry? Certainly a challenge that keeps us on our toes is the continual change in technology, and the pressing need to keep up with the ever-changing landscape of the business as a result. For example, when we started biometric enrollment for applications back in 2007, we knew that a decade later it would become a key security element in many visa and citizen services processes. Rather than pinpoint bottlenecks, I would say the fast-changing advancements in all services have forced companies, ourselves included, to adapt and expand. It is not easy to achieve this, and only the fittest – and most forward-looking – will survive! On the government side, as more governments adopt the model of outsourced visa processes, we have seen increasing professionalization of the tendering and contract awarding process by governments. In fact, governments are recognising the immense benefits of assigning higher importance to quality of
the solution, technology and security in the selection process, and reducing the importance on pricing. Any suggestions to face today's challenges that can bring in a stable tourism environment? I would say commitment to innovation and adapting your business to put the customer’s needs at the front and centre of your business strategy would contribute to a more evolved tourism environment. With a plethora of mobile and webbased options for consumers in the travel and tourism sector, it’s a very busy marketplace. In a fairly short period of time, the travel business has undergone a transformation on many levels. As the platforms of consumption go online, mobile and social, the traditional tour operating models will need to change the way they do business to capture the modern traveller who is sophisticated, independent, and getting all the information he needs at the click of a button! Despite some mergers, travel industry continues to be a highly fragmented one worldwide, and is expected to remain so, especially among online travel agencies. We do expect to see some more disruption especially in emerging or fast-growing markets, such as South Asia, and China. It’s a highly competitive space, and companies will need to shift focus, innovate and add value to customer experience if they are to stay relevant for the new travel consumer. And even in an online world, a trusted customer-
focused and specialised travel agent will always find his clients to serve. Also, as regulation around data management becomes a frequent subject of discussion in many countries, it becomes important for companies in this sector to ensure the overall integrity of their operation – this is particularly relevant in the highly sensitive visa services industry. With AI and ML ruling the game, is there a view you wish to share on the same? As digital technologies take hold of the world’s industries and our daily lives, digitization hasn’t just become a necessity, but a somewhat urgent reality across business lines. While Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning are buzzwords today, at VFS Global, we have already been making significant investments in these areas since some time. Last year, for instance, ViVA, the first-ever visa services chatbot, and VFS Global’s first digital employee, was successfully launched on the website for Australia visa services in India, and is being rolled out for other client governments. What are the focus areas of development and new initiatives at VFS Global, that will be spearheaded by you in the future? Technology has always been a key business driver at VFS Global. Today, with digital transformations happening in every sector, our digital vision aims to be always one step ahead, with constant upgrades happening in line with on-going
THOUGHT LEADERS dynamic changes in the marketplace. The focus will be to introduce faster and better services and products. Speed and time-to-market are critical success factors. In addition to expanding our visa services, we also see strong growth potential in our Identity and Citizen Services (ICS) vertical. Cur-
rently, there are some significant applicant-facing developments happening on the digital front. For instance, we have worked very closely with UK Visas and Immigration to set up brand new visa application websites in the over 50 countries where we manage UK visa services. Similarly, highly per-
sonalised visa services and products, such as Premium Lounges or Visa At Your Doorstep services, or centres that stay open outside the regular hours – are offered very commonly today in all regions where we are operational. Mobile apps for visa application or e-visa solutions – such as the
UAE visa for Emirates Airline, the Brazil eVisa, and Thailand eVOA – ‘paperless’ processing solutions for our client governments, biometric enrolments for millions of applicants that come through our centres annually – these are some of the solutions aimed at easing the process for the modern trav-
eller who is far more sophisticated, aware and prefers speed and comfort at every step of his travel process. Ensuring data protection and quality control on systems across people and geographies – 24x7, 365 days of the year – in an uncompromising manner, is also one of our biggest focus areas.
‘RAPID GROWTH REQUIRES TALENTED HUMAN RESOURCES’ Radha Bhatia, chairperson-Brid Group, firmly believes that the industry has far greater potential than is being tapped. She shares her articulate views on the industry and its future. By Reema Lokesh How would you describe your journey in the tourism sector? My journey of 45 years has touched almost all parts of travel, tourism and aviation industry. It's been an exciting journey, with challenges to overcome everyday.
vative training to enable multitasking, continuous upgrading to stay in touch with fast changing technology and dynamic market requirements. What are the focus areas of development and new initiatives at your company, that will be spearhead by you in the future? We are looking for growth organically, and inorganically if required in order to keep pace with global standards. But I firmly believe that growth has to be well thought out and planned in detail. We are ideally placed to grow with the anticipated growth in aviation, tourism and hospitality having significant footprints in all these areas. We also intend to grow our skills development and education practices to meet our own demands as well as those of the industry.
What are your key learning and findings over the period of time as an industry professional? There is no alternative to quality. If you are able to provide value to the customer, they become your best spokespersons. What are the pressing concerns that causes the bottlenecks in the industry? The industry has far greater potential than is being tapped. Rapid growth requires talented human resources, shortage of which causes a bottleneck. We need to be able to build a pipeline of skilled workforce to overcome this. We aslo need the industry to focus on a common agenda. Any suggestions to face today's challenges that can bring in a stable tourism environment? World over India is famous
Radha Bhatia
for our culture. India's food, monuments etc. We need to showcase our rich and varied heritage to domestic and inbound tourists. Creating greater awareness, providing better infrastructure and multiple options to cater for different interests, budgets
would lead to a stable tourism environment. With AI and ML ruling the game, is there a view you wish to share on the same? We need to adapt. This involves updating our processes and upskilling our people. Inno-
There are businesses within the sector that have lost faith in the potential and ROI this industry promises to bring in? There is more complains than confidence? Consistency has to be maintained by stakeholders. Advanced planning of two years
has to be done. Two way awareness of market, maintaining credibility at all costs. Industry verification and certification of practitioners to avoid complaints. M&As are said to be rather extensive in the near future. What’s your thought on it. It's a global phenomenon. If properly planned doesn't affect consumer. Infact it adds to offerings. Pooling of strengths to provide better experiences to the customers is always a good strategy. What are the future trends in travel? Consolidation, finding new destinations, promoting new facets of our culture. Technology as an enabler. Social media as platform to share travelers personal experience. What’s your take on the future of MICE and also that of India in the tourism world order? New opportunities like golf tourism, culinary tourism, exhibitions. We have infrastructure to support MICE at major destinations. We should look at creating this at smaller destinations as well.
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THOUGHT LEADERS
‘WE NEED TO STOPTHINKING TRANSACTIONAL AND STARTTHINKING STRATEGIC’ Rajeev Kohli, joint managing director, Creative Travel,speaks point blank on industry issues, challenges and what is the winning formula for the sector. By Reema Lokesh How would you describe your journey in the tourism sector? It’s been an amazing ride. Rohit and I joined the family in Creative little over 24 years ago. At that point, we were a small operation like most of everyone else of the time. We were fortunate to have the training of an industry veteran and pathbreaker in our father, Ram Kohli. I grew up in this business learning from him. I never had an easy ride. I started at the bottom in the business as did my brother. As the years progressed, my skills became better. To have led a global association like SITE, to be named as one of the 25 most influential people in the global incentive travel industry, to assisting the family in Creative’s success - I have so much to be grateful for. The journey has been one of hard work and of absorbing knowledge from wherever I could. I have the confidence in my convictions based on my experience in whatever I have done over the past 25 years of my professional career. What are your key learning and findings over the period of time as an industry professional? My learnings in this business are very clear - focus on doing a few things well rather than many things poorly. Don’t try to be everything to everyone. It is easy to jump on the band wagon and copy what others are doing, but it takes a lot more effort to make your own paths and that is what we chose to do. I never got influenced by what other claimed to be ‘trends’. Some worked, and some did not, and we
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recognised that failure is as much a part of business as success. We have invested tremendously in our people. Further, I have learnt that there is a big difference between being an incredible country (that we are) and an incredible tourism product (that we are not). I have learned that we are in no way the aspirational destination we wish to be. I have learned to speak my mind, be clean at heart and not fear what others will think of you. I have learned that our industry is politically weak in mind and spirit. I have learned that leadership means being selfless and thinking of the larger good, something we severely lack in our industry. I know that the next five years will see many in the Indian tourism stakeholder see greater struggles in their business because of the apathy of each one of us in making the industry grow. I have learned that with focus and determination, one can succeed and we at Creative will power on despite of all the structural challenge of operating in India. What are the pressing concerns that causes the bottlenecks in the industry? I really find that the common punching bags of all trade associations are the same taxes, visas, roads, airports etc. But in my opinion, the single biggest roadblock to our success is the poor and inadequate leadership we have in the representative bodies across all segments of tourism. I say this with all humility, respect and affection for many of my friends and colleagues who are currently
transactional and start thinking strategic. Unfortunately, I don’t see this happening in the short term.
Rajeev Kohli
serving the industry in various roles. But the facts are very stark and clear. How dare the political decision makers and the bureaucracy across central and state governments ignore the needs of a segment of the economy that accounts for 10 per cent of the GDP, 10 per cent of all employment and so much foreign exchange earnings. In most other countries, tourism is a cherished segment. It is an encouraged segment. In India, it’s quite the opposite. It’s an industry that is abused, that is chided for being elitist. Instead of cultivating the enormous multiplier effective of every rupee spent on tourism, the government at all levels feel it their birthright to slit the throat of the golden goose, one policy at a time. And all our associations sit silent, quiescent to the actions. And this is our bottleneck. The day we become assertive and demand our pound of flesh is the day we shall see our world change. We need to stop thinking
Any suggestions to face today's challenges that can bring in a stable tourism environment? In my opinion, the polices of all state and central tourism administrations are very antiquated. There is a consistent pattern of expecting new and improved results from doing the same thing again and again. I think it would be a sensible move to have all sides sit down and start a new process from a blank piece of paper on hat works in the new world. Form healthy policy debate and getting new voices around a table we will see a new policy emerge. In the short term let's just get the taxation right. That is a huge pain point. With AI and ML ruling the technology game, is there a view you wish to share on the same? For all the tech in the world, nothing will replace face to face interaction and the feeling of being at an iconic place yourself. AI may help the sales channel but the euphoria of standing at the Taj Mahal, the Eiffel Tower or on the Great Wall of China will never be the same on a machine. What are the focus areas of development and new initiatives at Creative Travel? Whatever we did, we did with a clear eye on the end. We started Plan it! Meetings and Conferences with a focus on the association meetings market. Just over three years ago,
we started investing in a specialist outbound team in Signature Tours. Today, the company closes its year after doubling its sales of last year and is on a strong path of growth. We have a specialist brand in JungleSutra Wildlife Journeys. For us it was quality over quantity. All those decisions have paid off and today 42 years later we sit in a space where we are confident, we are growing, and we have a plan. There are businesses within the sector that have lost faith in the potential and ROI this industry promises to bring in. There are more complaints than confidence? What’s your take on it? The desire to grow at any cost has led many many players operate at ridiculous and unsustainable margins. There the ROI on any new investments is bound to be poor. If I was to evaluate making a major investment in India tourism today in 2019, I probably would not. Putting your money in the bank make more just at simple interest. If we are to survive, we need to start working as a team across all segments – hotels, airlines, travel agents, tour operators. We need to grow the size of the pie and work cohesively to increase India’s share of the global tourism spend. If you commoditise the industry, your margins will vanish. Simple laws of economics. The industry is predicted to witness more M&As in the future. Comments. VCs and PEs want to jump
THOUGHT LEADERS on the glamorous bandwagon of tourism. I think there is a very poor understanding of what the industry actually does and how fickle consumer behaviour is. I do question the viability and logic of many of the M&A projects over the past few years. Many are one loss making company buying another loss making unique and
increase their sales. How long can that be sustainable? Especially when margins are so squeezed. Also, how do you get economies of scale in a commoditised industry? Airlines want to get rid of the middleman. I see smaller players befitting from being bought out, but I see the buyer having a potential big hit on their balance
sheet in the next few years. What are the future trends in travel? People will travel. People will want to focus on experiences over hardware. Travellers will be more educated on their options. What’s comment on the fu-
ture of inbound and India in the tourism world order? Inbound into India in the organised segment will continue to be stressed for the next 12-24 months if not longer. Unless we have a major reboot on positioning and marketing, we will continue to be hammered by our competition. It is important to under-
stand that destinations who compete with us for consumer attention are far more aggressive and slicker in how they position themselves and capture their eyeballs. Unless the government starts listening to the stakeholders and stop looking at only statistics, we will see greater pain for the organised inbound segment.
‘ITS IMPORTANTTO INVESTIN YOUR PEOPLE' Veena Patil, founder and director VeenaWorld and Sudhir Patil, founder and director VeenaWorld share their thoughts and vision and how to tackle any crisis in the travel and tourism sector with only a positive approach. By Reema Lokesh Their Journey in the travel space. Veena and Sudhir Patil's journey in the travel and tourism industry dates back a few decades. With humble beginnings they went on to set an empire in the travel space that is regarded to be robust and promising. Their mission is to 1) make travel affordable with continuous innovation in the world of tourism 2) To create a community of happy world travelers by offering professionally planned holidays with a personal touch 3) To develop an empowering culture that inspires team members, partners and associates to strive for higher levels of achievement and growth 4) To build India’s most admired travel company. Says Veena and Sudhir Patil, “VeenaWorld has been lovingly nurtured from a single seed to create a unique travel experience for all kinds of travelers. Our journey so far, has truly been an incredible one!” Our key Learnings There is no substitute to hard work. One has to be in constant touch with the customer, listen to them patiently and cater to their demands and also their issues instantly. The travel and tourism sector is a vibrant one and one of the most encouraging when it
that we do our best to work in trying times as well. If this was not true then our Kashmir tours would not be as popular. The use of technology in tourism – AI and MH Technology has definitely aided in reshaping the entire customer experience. At VeenaWorld we are making necessary and calculated investments in a number of things including Chatbots, AI, ML with an aim to provide our customers with better experiences. We believe that in our country a hybrid model consisting of both technological innovations and personal service of high quality will define how sustainable your business will be in the future.
Veena Patil and Sudhir Patil
comes to employment generation. In VeenaWorld's Mumbai office itself there around 500 team members with almost 376 members as women. We are proud of our unique work culture. Its very important to invest in your people. As our son Neil Patil says, that our home grown tour managers itself are our brand samurais. Facing today's challenges.
No industry is infallible. Yes the tourism industry has a number of bottlenecks from taxation issues, to government's focus and commitment, to aviation volatility but the fact remains that as industry professionals we have to move ahead amidst all the stressful times. This is also a highly sensitive industry and a lot demands on market conditions, geopolitical activities etc. At this point we would say
Future Trends in Travel However cliché it may sound, travel is a need and humans by nature are explorers. Today's travellers are aware and active. The aim is to offer them something that is not predictable and most importantly something that they will cherish for a lifetime even in the most predictable and popular destination both in India and across the world. For example on our all women tours, there are some truly heartwarming moments and memories we come across which people share. It is all
about experiential travel and that need not be expensive or to exotic locations. Further, India's domestic tourism is waiting to be further explored with newer products being introduced in the market. In the outbound space, the sky is the limit. As we said earlier amidst all the issues and bottlenecks, one has to have the focus and commitment to move ahead with the customer welfare in mind. The story of travel has just began for us and I am sure most of our industry counterparts who are committed to this profession will feel the same. The is a lot we have spoken about lethargy, leadership failure and lack of infrastructure. Let's move on building this industry one step at a time and miracles do happen. The importance of manpower investment Investing is your people as we said earlier is something that we strongly believe and also regular practice. It is a part of our DNA. As we said we take pride in building our home grown tour operators and encourage women in our work force wholeheartedly. Our team strength speaks for itself. Having said that, there is talent in the market, it is time to tap them soon and nurture them into this inspiring profession.
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"WE WILLSEE MORE DEALS AND MORE DISRUPTIONS" "If you can’t handle the heat, get out of the kitchen," says Rakshit Desai, MD - India, Flight Centre Travel Group, as he elucidates about the opportunities, challenges and the possibilities that the tourism sector faces and offers. By Reema Lokesh How would you describe your journey in the tourism sector? What are your understandings from the sector? It has been an interesting journey for sure - the dotcom boom and bust, 9/11, the second gulf war, SARS, the financial crisis - but also the opportunity to work on three continents, experiment with new business models and drive transformational change. I have understood that change and volatility are constants and that adaptability is a core competence. The environment will always throw up challenges and my job is to develop a point of view on where we should head and then pursue directional progress relentlessly. What are your key learnings and findings over the period of time as an industry professional? Follow your customer, that keeps you relevant. Empower your team, collaboration trumps control. Make a difference, don’t waste space. What are the pressing concerns that causes the bottlenecks in the industry? The industry has been unable to engage with the political establishment to make tourism a centerpiece of our development journey. This manifests itself in many ways – infrastructure issues, heavily taxed services, hygiene / health / safety concerns, etc. Any suggestions to face to-
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Air travel penetration in India is a tiny fraction and this is already the world’s third largest civil aviation market. Opportunities and returns exist but not for the faint of heart Rakshit Desai
day's challenges that can bring in a stable tourism environment? Given the current geopolitical environment, it would be naïve to expect complete stability but measures have been taken to reduce volatility and drive growth – UDAAN for regional connectivity and improved access, easing of visa norms which will likely be reciprocated, air and bed capacity addition across the affordability spectrum, etc. With AI and ML ruling the technology game, is there a view you wish to share on the same? AI and ML will automate
routine and robotic processes and make the content universe easier to navigate but it will never replace the human intelligence and passion that goes into curating and delivering life-defining travel experiences. What are the focus areas of development and new initiatives at your company, that will be spearhead by you in the future? Our strategy is simple. More customers. We are on a mission to make India travel and have a plethora of product (corporate and leisure, air and land), distribution (b2b, b2c, b2b2c) and differentia-
tion (experiential) initiatives in play. There are businesses within the sector that have lost faith in the potential and ROI this industry promises to bring in. There is more complaints than confidence. What’s the survival formula if any? If you can’t handle the heat, get out of the kitchen. Air travel penetration in India is a tiny fraction and this is already the world’s third largest civil aviation market. Opportunities and returns exist but not for the faint of heart. Go for growth, aim high.
M&As are said to be rather extensive in the near future. Comment. Consolidation is inevitable, this is a hugely fragmented market and scale matters. We will see more deals and more disruption. What are the future trends in travel? More frequent, shorter duration trips. BLeisure, where business travellers indulge in leisure as work/life integration starts to offset work/life balance issues and guilt. Better informed and even more demanding customers looking for unique experiences that can be documented and published for social recognition. What’s the future of MICE and also that of India in the tourism world order? MICE is growing rapidly but from a relatively small base. It’s a US $ 1.5bn segment in a US$ 100bn market and presents a compelling opportunity for players that are able to leverage talent. This is an ideas business and the best talent will win the most business. The Indian travel and tourism industry is one of the major contributors to the growth of the country’s GDP. In less than 10 years, India is expected to become the fourth largest travel and tourism economy following China, US and Germany but we have miles to go before we rest. The potential exists, execution is hard, we need to find the will.
THOUGHT LEADERS
‘WE SHOULD INTRODUCE ABUSINESS LICENCE ESPECIALLYFOR TRAVELAGENCIES’ Vasudha Sondhi, managing director, Outbound Marketing, speaks strongly on the challenges and the opportunities the travel and tourism sector provides and what we need to fix to move ahead as an industry. By Reema Lokesh Your contribution to the hospitality and the travel industry has been noteworthy. What are key learnings as an industry professional? I was meant to be in this industry. Meeting some stalwarts of this industry whilst in school and being mentored by a doyen of the hospitality industry whilst in college were no mere coincidences. I would describe myself more as an evolved hotelier rather than a tourism professional. It would be an understatement to say that being in the hospitality business means everything to me. It’s kind of my DNA now. The fact that I could move from hotels to a travel agency to international business development to hotels again and representation business has been a huge learning every day. Its not just the job that one learns, its about how one can evolve to be relevant everyday in such a dynamic environment and grow the business. I do find that a lot of top brands still need to come of age. They talk a lot about the environment but do very little to change especially in India. You will find your bath towels being replaced everyday, soap cakes which are used once...amenities in plastic bottles and the list is endless. I know some international chains that are even concerned about reusing coffee powder residue, they are doing away with buffets which is great. I find that we are quite late in adopting new practices in India and it is too little and too late. I do have questions that I am yet to find answers for...such as controlling tourism. The debate is whether controlling will again
make tourism an elitist activity, how can there be a balance between controlling and yet giving everyone an opportunity to dive into the wonderful world of travel. What are the pressing concerns that causes the bottlenecks in the industry? I think it is high time we introduce a business license especially for travel agencies. Today anyone can open a travel or tour operating company, they can join any travel association and take advantage of the training and activities being organised by hotels and tourism boards. It creates an imbalance in the industry. On the one hand we need to attract serious professionals who are completely passionate about this business and about creating great experiences for their customers. Such companies do invest time and money. The licence will reduce the numbers of fly by night kind of operators. We need to simplify taxation. Any suggestions to bring in a rather stable tourism environment? A stable tourism environment is difficult when we are living in unstable times. As we try to simplify lives, it is becoming more complicated. However, I feel we can encourage domestic, regional and short haul travel especially for India, create world class roads and make the contractor accountable for quality and longevity of the roads. Our people are discovering the pleasures of road travel. Cleanliness, cleanliness and more cleanliness should be the focus. Our heritage is our na-
and more recently also domestic hotels. While we are also adding new clients, the focus is to make the relationship stronger with each of our clients and provide them with our market expertise. We invest in understanding the changes in our customer buying behaviour, likes, dislikes etc.
Vasudha Sondhi
tional treasure, wherever it is and in whichever form, we need to preserve it and strict action should be taken against anyone flouting this. Safety of the tourists and especially women travellers needs to be looked into with regular audits of what the different states in India are doing towards safety. With AI and ML ruling the technology game, do you have an opinion on the same? AI is already been used for some years now in our industry. This is definitely the present and future. With the numbers of persons and young employable persons in India, AI will be used for experience enhancement rather than replacing people driven jobs. What are the focus areas of development at Outbound Marketing and new initiatives in the pipeline? At Outbound Marketing we are primarily working on providing various sales and marketing solutions to international hotels and hotel chains
There are businesses in this sector that feels the ROI is not attractive in this sector. More complaints than confidence. Is there a survival formula? Domestic tourism has touched the two billion mark. Or almost there but largely this is pilgrim travel. International or outbound is still in its twenties of million. So the scope is immense in this business. As I mentioned earlier unless a travel company has a marketing plan, short to medium vision etc and an ability to evolve with times, they are bound to feel there is no ROI. It is therefore crucial to the survival of this industry to bring in a regulation on who can do this business and some standard requirements which should also include some qualifications. With social media and digital platforms, we can reach out in an effective manner to a large audience and this helps us to sell better. A huge change from previous times of hunting for the elusive customer. I definitely do not see the end at all...learn, unlearn and learn is the name of the game. M&As are said to more prominent in the near future. Your views? M&As are bound to hap-
pen in any industry which is on a growth path. It allows companies to grow through acquisition, get market share and brands. Such growth would otherwise take years to do organically. So nothing wrong with that. But definitely acquisitions to the point of wiping out competition is not healthy for any business. What are the future trends in travel? I see a lot of growth in responsible travel, niche will be the buzz word. Culinary, adventure, nature, immersive experiences will all be part of the discerning traveller's itinerary. Being a country with a huge population, we will still have a huge numbers travelling on typical holidays to regional destinations internationally. Definitely international travel will see a big upswing. Do you have a critical observation of the manpower wealth in this country? Manpower - this is such a big topic. We truly need trained and skilled manpower. Compounding this challenge is the fact that most young persons coming into this business have not travelled or experienced what they are aiming to sell to their customer. This puts the onus of putting their personnel through all these experiences squarely on the tour operating companies. Hotels are still a little better off as most chains have set training programmes and train the trainer programmes. Training on the job is also easier.
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'UDAN-III HAS COME AS ABIG BOON TO MADHYAPRADESH' Hari Rajan Rao, managing director, MP Tourism, says it is imperative that we keep our hotel operations to a manageable level and bring in private sector participation at places where we have more than one hotel or we can move on from that established destination by offering our property to private partners. By Reema Lokesh What’s MP Tourism’s primary focus for the year 20192020 and near future? Madhya Pradesh is known for its rich wildlife, heritage, spiritual journeys and the wonderful nature. It has always been a challenge to focus on any one attraction for tourists. In the year 2019-20 and in near future we plan to showcase Madhya Pradesh as a complete family tourist destination. Would MP Tourism tap new target markets and is there a new strategy in place? Yes. The board has begun its international journey in the right earnest by organising roadshows in many international markets apart from participating in various Travel Marts. Our foray into USA, UK, China, Europe and Moscow has started yielding results. As our new strategy, we have also taken our private sector partners to various international travel marts and road shows with us as a team. Any plans to privatise the hotels under the tourism board periphery? The Madhya Pradesh State Tourism Development Corporation (MPSTDC) has been a flag bearer in providing “Value for Money” hospitality services in Madhya Pradesh for the last 30 years. Currently the MPSTDC is operating about 60 hotels in the entire state. MPSTDC, perhaps, is one of the few tourism corporations in the country which makes profit. However, we wish to now focus on our
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hospitality business by joining the league of good hotel chains and, therefore, maintaining quality services have become our paramount objective. Keeping this in view, it is imperative that we keep our operations to a manageable level and bring in private sector participation at places where we have more than one hotel or we can move on from that established destination by offering our property to private partners. This is being done by offering selective properties of MPSTDC on a 30-year licence period through an open and transparent process.
Hari Ranjan Rao
What are the niche areas which would demand focus in the near future?
Opportunities in Adventure Tourism and “rich experiences” involving local crafts,
arts, life style, cuisine and architecture are some of the niche areas that now we want to focus on. What are the primary challenges you face in terms of destination promotion? Large number of equally competitive destinations becomes a challenge as we face the risk of losing the focus. Another challenge is to get complete buy- in of the local bodies like municipalities who are the primary stakeholders. Any work to improve transport connectivity to the state, especially on the aviation front? There is a lot of good news on air transport connectivity
to Madhya Pradesh recently. Udan-III has come as a big boon to MP, with airlines choosing to connect Satna, Rewa, Chhindwara, Datia and Ujjain to other destinations. Already Indore, Bhopal, Khajuraho, Jabalpur and Gwalior have well-functioning established airports. Airlines like IndiGo and SpiceJet have started flights from Bhopal and Indore having more than 100 flights per day to various destinations in the country. MP is now connected to Mumbai, Delhi, Bengaluru, Chennai, Raipur, Jaipur, Ahmedabad, Hyderabad, Pune, Kolkata, Gwalior, Vadodara, Nagpur, Lucknow, Jodhpur and Varanasi. Shortly connectivity to Kochi, Udaipur, Agra and Allahabad have also been announced. Madhya Pradesh is already well connected by railways, all trains connecting north-south & east-west India pass through the state. We are confident that this recent spurt in air connectivity will go a long way in establishing MP as the tourist hub in central India because of its strategic location in the country. The very good road network of national and state highways has ensured that long distance road travel in MP becomes a pleasurable activity. Any message you wish to share? Madhya Pradesh Tourism is known for its innovative best practices and leadership role. We wish to continue to be the role model with a good dedicated team and strong political commitment.
THOUGHT LEADERS
'IN INDIA,WE WERE THE FIRSTCOMPANYTO OFFER BRANDED DOMESTIC HOLIDAYS' As Cox & Kings, the world's oldest established travel company completes 260 years in the industry, Peter Kerkar, Group CEO, Cox&Kings, recalls the journey so far and the roadmap ahead. By Steena Joy Cox & Kings is celebrating 260 years in the travel industry. How has the company evolved in this journey? Cox & Kings traces its origins to 1758, when Richard Cox’s career took off when Lord Ligonier led the Flanders campaign of the War of Austrian Succession. In one letter sent back to London, Richard Cox makes a demand that "suitable winter provisions and housing should be made available for the three English companies" and he became entwined with logistics and the general welfare of the troops. Ligonier made Cox his private secretary in the late 1740s, went on to become the colonel of the First Foot Guards in 1757, and rewarded Cox with the post of 'military agent' after the incumbent died in May 1758. Thus was born Cox & Co. There were about a dozen main agents working for the army at the time and each regimental colonel chose one to serve their troops. These agents arranged the payment of officers and men, organised the provision of clothing, acted as intermediaries for the buying and selling of officers' commissions and acted on any special requests from the regimental adjutant. Historically, Cox & Kings has been an army agent, a travel agent, a printer and publisher. It has also worked as a news agent, cargo agent, shipowner, banker, insurance agent, and dealer of several travel-related activities. Its core activities now include the sale of packaged holidays for leisure travel. In 2009, it listed on the stock exchanges in India and was the first Indian travel multinational company. In 2011, it acquired
HolidayBreak in the UK. Today, the company has operations spread across 22 countries and four continents. How has C&K reinvented itself for the new age Indian traveller? The travel industry is constantly evolving and that’s the nature of our industry. One has to adapt, innovate and capture the trends that prevail in the market and offer it to the clientele. In India, we were the first company to offer branded domestic holidays under the Bharat Deko brand in 2001, at a time when domestic travel market was looked down upon and the five-star hotel chains scoffed at our initiative. Today, all the hotel chains are making a beeline for the Indian domestic travel. Similarly, we were the first ever private company to run four luxury carriages in a train from Jodhpur to Jaisalmer. Today, we operate the Deccan Odyssey, the one-ofits-kind luxury train in India, that boasts of a Pan-India itinerary. All this has been made possible due to our innovative efforts in understanding the demands of the traveller. In another innovative effort, we are marketing a product called The Ultimate Travelling Camp (TUTC), this is super luxury and we have set up our camps in Ladakh, Nubra, Kohima and Dudhwa. These cater to a market which has been unexplored. Cox & Kings' tremendous contribution to the country's travel industry is known to all. With innovations like 'Enable Travel' – unique holidays for the disabled travellers to specialist brands such as ' Trip 360' for adventure enthusiasts, 'Getaway Goddess' for women
Peter Kerkar
travellers and 'Self Drive 365' that is set to change the realm of self-drive tours in India and elsewhere, Cox & Kings has reinvented the space. A successful company must focus on continuous customer engagement. Comments. Our target market is the entire spectrum of travellers. We engage differently with different target groups. We take part in roadshows across the country and also market online. We do not limit ourselves to a particular vehicle or channel, it’s the entire spectrum we engage with through innovative campaigns. Anushka Sharma as brand ambassador. How can celebrities add value to an already established brand? Aspirational Indians have a good connect with influencers that represent them. Celebrities have immense value and can help us create a differentiated connect with Indian travellers. What has been the response
to the Enable Travel initiative? The response has been positive so far. Since we launched in 2017, we have facilitated travel for over 200 disabled people in domestic, inbound and outbound segment. We see a huge scope in the inbound space. Apart from curating customised itineraries for the disabled, Enable travel has designed unique digital and onground campaigns that works towards changing mindsets of people and making them believe there is nothing one can’t do. When will Self Drive 365 hit the roads in India? Which regions will it cover ? Self Drive 365 has already hit the roads in India. With some tempting road journeys from across the world, Self Drive 365 is the country’s one of the first road-trip specialists. The new vertical covers the entire country with unimaginable customised itineraries. Those passionate to explore the Indian wonders through road, SD365 offers you the beauty and cultural marvels of Maharashtra, Goa, Rajasthan, Gujarat, Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Himachal Pradesh, Leh-Ladakh and Karnataka. Besides, riders interested to explore any other part of India, a custom trip can be designed. India is a promising destination for Self Drive 365. In view of the long run, we have all witnessed a growth in the number of kilometres of new roads in the country. Besides, the existing infrastructure well suits self-drive journeys. 2018 has been declared as the Year of Adventure Travel. Is Trip 360 indicative of India's
adventure tourism potential? Adventure tourism is witnessing an impressive growth in India. One of the indicators being, the inbound travel in the adventure space which is growing at an estimated rate of five per cent to seven per cent per year. The statistics indicate there is growing interest among the international community of enthusiasts in exploring the adventure side of India. India has a vast coastline and about 73 per cent of the Himalayas waiting to be explored with the right infrastructure. Indian adventure tourism is yet at a nascent stage that is charting its own growth path.The sector is growing faster than any other segment in the tourism industry. With appropriate regulations, the Indian adventure sector can mark its space globally. We haven’t even scraped the tip of adventure travel opportunities available in India. With the record number of coasts, the river bodies running through the entire length and breadth of the country and the beautiful mountain ranges in the north and south, the national parks we have in the country, we can in the next 10 years be the top destination for Adventure Tourism. Your comments on the UDAAN scheme. The government’s UDAAN (regional connectivity scheme), initiative is a step in the right direction. Existing airlines have invested in aircraft to connect to the new airports and routes that were not deemed profitable. Many of them are now commercially viable. This demonstrates that the government is the catalyst in the growth of Indian aviation.
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'IFYOUR RISK MANAGEMENTIS DONE RIGHT, THEN THERE IS VERYLITTLE TO BE AFRAID OF' Sriram Rajmohan, CEO and MD, Club7 Holidays, shares his perspective on the industry By Reema Lokesh How would you describe your journey in the tourism sector? What are your understandings from the sector? As one of the largest global economic contributors tourism is second only to energy. My journey thus far has been a very interesting and rewarding experience. Interesting because of the myriad learning opportunities this sector by virtue of its constant state of flux demands, and also immensely rewarding when your commitment to service is recognised by a plethora of happy customers. Over the years, I have gained an immense insight in correctly reading and navigating this seemingly complex web of relationships between a variety of suppliers, tourism products, destination marketing organisations, tour operators, travel agents among many others to the benefit and delight of our customers. What are your key learnings and findings over the period of time as an industry professional? Some of my key learnings are enumerated below: · Be Yourself, everyone else is already taken. By this I mean that even if your closest competitor or neighbour is having great success with something, don’t just duplicate it. You must identify a point of difference and make it your thing. You need to assess your strengths and work on it. · Be Excellent. Sometimes it’s the simplest things that appeal to our clients and gets them talking. On one of our recent tours to the Balkan states, a client got on social media to recommend the excellent ‘Musaka’ at Stara Kuka in Skopje. Delivering an exceptional experience, going above and beyond a client’s expectations is more effective and much less expensive
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than a big marketing campaign! · Review, Review, Review whatever you do. This in my opinion is the holy grail of service in the tourism industry. You need to constantly measure your marketing, your ROI on investments, testing and experiencing new products and finally ensure everything you do is Fun. What are the pressing concerns that causes the bottlenecks in the industry? As in any other genre of business, tourism too does have some pressing concerns particularly with Risk Management due to economic instability, political uncertainty, low wage retention and tourism infrastructure. We all agree that tourism is a discretionary spend, and an economic downturn leads to tighter household budgets, tightening of credit conditions and falling asset values. People are less likely to spend money on luxury items such as travel in times of political uncertainty such as the oncoming national elections. Entry level low wages in the travel and tourism industry mean that we have a very high level of job turnover. This makes training difficult leading to a lack of skilled personnel. Moreover, each time a person leaves, contacts and information gets lost, and finally poor infrastructure in many parts of our country from substandard docks and ports to poor electricity, poor roads and a lack of adequate water deter tourism. Any suggestions to face today’s challenges that can bring in a stable tourism environment? Today we live in an era of unprecedented global integration. Technology and innovations have revolutionised the way we think of the world, how we
What are the focus areas of developments and new initiatives at Club7? Continuing on the topic of technology, we at Club7 are in the process of making rather large investments in taking our business online. We expect to have this project rolled out first through our branches and then on a B2C module nationwide by the start of Q3. We are also going all out to expend the footprint of our forex business.
Sriram Rajmohan
communicate, travel and share information. The hyper connectivity of today is both a boon and a curse. Geopolitical tensions gets blown up at times. This is deterimental to tourism. Rather than managing crisis in a reactive way, its vital to look at it in a proactive way and look at how to implement the right measures to avoid them. With AI and ML ruling the technology game, is there a view you wish to share on this? AI, ML, AR, VR - with so many acronyms in the machinemeets-marketing vernacular, it’s sometimes hard to keep up with which tech does what. I think ML could play a greater role in enabling comprehensive technologically enabled solutions to enhance security and efficiency, ranging from re-envisioning the future of checkpoints and border controls as it is increasingly being put to use in Australia, Singapore and Canada to the improvement of data analytics tools in the application of evisas, regional visa agreements and the expansion of trusted traveller programmes.
There are businesses within the sector that have lost faith in the potential and ROI this industry promises to bring in, there is more complaints than confidence. What’s your take on it? Is there a survival formula? As I have enumerated earlier, the tourism business has great realised and unrealised potential. It is however subservient to wildly fluctuating Risk Management. If your Risk Management is done right, then there is very little to be afraid of. In my opinion businesses which have lost faith in the potential and ROI of this industry are those that have had major lapses in their Risk Management processes. Evolving and staying on top of the game is the only formula for survival. To quote Myles Munroe “People generally fall into one of three groups, the few who make things happen, the many who watch things happen and the overwhelming majority who have no notion of what happens. Every person is either a creator of facts or a creature of circumstance. He either puts colour into his environment, or like a chameleon takes colour from his environment”. Be the chameleon and the tourism industry is a breeze.
M&As are said to be more prominent in the future. Comment. M&As are de-rigueur worldwide, and have been for quite some time now. We are seeing this in communications, in energy, in finance, in hospitality and even in e-tail. Whilst M&As may have their own pros and cons, we must accept and adapt to the changes these may bring. In most instances these are good for tourism businesses as amongst other things they enable greater volumes of purchasing, streamlining operations and larger distribution networks. All of this leads to better pricing and more options for the customers. The downside of this is that sometimes this may lead to cartelisation, which unless properly regulated is disadvantageous to customers. What are the future trends in travel? The future belongs to the millennials and experiential tourism. Millennials increasingly form the bulwark of our clients. The days of travelling purely to see is headed for a certain demise. Our current mix of see some and do some, catering to Gen X is the future. Do you have a critical observation on manpower wealth in this industry? The good news is that most governments have recognised tourism as an industry thereby paving the way for universities to design curriculum channeled towards this sector. This education opportunity and flexibility of skills mean that the travel and tourism industry has a very healthy future. There is a plethora of jobs and opportunities in different sectors. There is a place for everyone in tourism.
GEN NXT
‘TECHNOLOGYIS THE PRESENTAND IF YOUR PRESENTIS NOTSECURE,THE FUTURE IS VERYBLEAK’ Embracing technology and the millennial work culture will make companies future ready says Suyash Gupta, driver-in-chief, Transportal Gen Nxt thought: Gen Nxt are the baton bearers but also let them run their own race What was your primary motivator to pursue your professional goals in the travel and tourism sector? Well, in my case, it's the story of tourism being ingrained in my DNA. I remember receiving groups of foreign tourists at home and attending IATO conventions when I was eight years old. Further, having been lucky enough to travel and study abroad, it was clear as day, that the tourism sector in India has not even reached one per cent of its true potential. I strongly believe that with sustained efforts from the private sector, supported by strong tourism focused government policies, tourism can alleviate poverty, create jobs and become the biggest contributor to the Indian GDP. Is there a particular observation you have made about the industry, both as a challenge or an opportunity? The Adoption of Technology. The advent of technology is old news, it's the adoption, which is the biggest challenge. Boutique travel agencies, small hotels, local tours will soon see themselves being left behind the curve if they do not actively invest in adopting technology. Simple examples, like OYO overtaking other hotel brands in terms of being the biggest hotel chain, companies like Trivago, Expedia and TBO taking a lion's share in the hotels and ticketing space. This challenge thus also
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provides an opportunity. Embracing technology and the millennial work culture will make companies future ready. I also want to take this opportunity to bust the myth that technology is very expensive and 'I am too old to learn and change.’ All it takes is an open mind and being willing to learn sometimes from people who are much younger but can have great knowledge about technology. For us at Transportal, our technology has helped us spread our network to 28 cities in less than 14 months and being able to offer logistics solutions to large scale events with more than 5000 people with just a five member team. Based out of Gurgaon we can service a client in Mumbai for their guest's requirements in 18 cities. What’s your vision for the business? At AgraWalks, which is now being rebranded as Indian Experiences, our vision is to showcase quintessential Indian cultural experiences to foreign tourists. We consciously involve NGOs and independent guides, Yoga instructors, etc to lead our tours, hence giving them a chance to hone their business skills and to be able to interact and transact with a foreign clientele as well. Something very close to our hearts is giving foreign tourists, the correct
The travel and tourism sector has seen and will see rampant shift to becoming heavily tech oriented. The competitive landscape is getting even more cutthroat and the ones who embrace technology shall be the winners Suyash Gupta
picture of India which is largely very safe and welcoming. At Transportal, we are enabling micro entrepreneurs such as small fleet owners, driver cum owners to use our technology to not only manage their own businesses but also get access to a nationwide clientele. Fleet owners with three to four cars get a constant flow of business through us, and the real success comes when this entrepreneur is able to add cars to his fleet. Transportal is still very young and boot-strapped. We are one of the few companies, in the new age start-up world, that uses the proceeds we generate from our business activities to fund further expansion and tech development plans. Eventually, Transportal will become a large tech-enabled aggregator of tourist vehicles across the country. Through
the use of APIs we shall partner with large OTAs, travel companies and also give boutique tour operators, the access to a wide range of transport options available across the country available, right on his dashboard. Technology has been a substantial game changer. Comment. I get this question very often now, and I could not implore on this any more. Technology is the PRESENT and if your present is not secure, the future is very bleak. The travel and tourism sector has seen and will see rampant shift to becoming heavily tech oriented. The competitive landscape is getting even more cutthroat and the ones who embrace technology shall be the winners. How the customer consumes content
has changed - AI based hotel check ins, Blockchain based travel history sharing, are now realities. Very soon you will not need to give an ID or passport at check in and AI based camera will read your face, cross reference with a worldwide secure blockchain shared by hotels across the world and viola, the check in is processed. I strongly advise travel companies, small hotels chains to spend time reading and consulting with people with some background in tech to get custom solutions for themselves and sensitise their staff towards technology. Your Gen Nxt thought? It's a relay race, the Gen Nxt are the baton bearers of this legacy, empower them, guide them but also let them run their own race.
GEN NXT
'THERE IS ANEED FOR AUTOMATION AND INTEGRATING MULTIPLE SERVICES AND PRODUCTS ON ASINGLE PLATFORM' Hussain Patel, director, Atlas Travels Online, speaks about the future of travel, technology and what it takes to be ahead of the curve Gen Nxt thought: I have always believed in investing in 3 T's i.e. Talent, Technology and Travel What was your primary motivator to pursue your professional goals in the travel and tourism sector? Atlas Tours & Travels has been in the flight consolidation business since 1987 and has been accredited with many awards in the travel and tourism sector for its achievements in Western India. It was a long due ambition for the company to venture into the online travel pace which gave birth to Atlas Travels Online in the year 2012 when I took the responsibility to lead since I was always a technology enthusiast. This venture kept me motivated and helped me create my own identity within the company. Is there a particular observation you have made about the industry, both as a challenge or an opportunity? The travel industry, on the whole, has been changing very rapidly every year and there is a need to constantly evolve and be able to adapt to as many changes as possible for growth or sustainability. In our case, we feel that these changes are helping us grow because where ever complexities are increasing an opportunity is also created, which we have been successfully been able to ride on. Also, there is always uncertainty about the future what is required is the right implementation and information, which if made available at the right time the
fear of that uncertainty very quickly becomes an opportunity. What’s your vision for the business? Atlas Travels Online (ATO) is positioned in a very unique way in India where we have created a network of 20000+ travel agents located in 436 cities in India who use our platform for flights, visa & hotel bookings. We feel the need to contribute in a big way by providing our travel partners with the right content which they need to provide services to their customers. We feel the flexibility and ability to provide these solutions are very important and we are constantly investing in our technology to make it more robust and provide the correct information when needed. Hence, I am hopeful of creating some opportunities for us by solving some of the core problems that our customer's face. Technology has been a substantial game changer. Comment. For today's traveller and the millennials, technology will play a very important factor. There is a need for automation and integrating multiple services and products on a single platform to help in creating a wow experience for the traveller. Our primary business focus always has been B2B segment where travel agents are more like consultants to their
There is a need for automation and integrating multiple services and products on a single platform to help in creating a wow experience for the traveller. Our primary business focus always has been B2B segment Hussain Patel
customers wanting to provide multiple products where we feel there is a need to give them the right tools to manage and sell those products seamlessly and make sure there is a constant touch point created for their customers to interact with them and make cross-selling possible to help our travel partners in increasing their revenues. India has more than 50 per cent of its population below the age of 25 and more than 65 per cent below the age of 35. The demands of these customers are changing very rapidly and we want our travel partners to be able to cater to them for which we want to provide a hybrid model through our robust technology solutions where we will empower them to be able to compete in the B2C space and offer a very customised solution with the ability to service their cus-
tomers offline as well as online. Your Gen Nxt thought? I have always believed in investing in three T's i.e. Talent, Technology and Travel. Over the last five years, we have attracted many talented people who are young and
have helped us in creating superlative business models well integrated with technology to achieve a leadership position in the travel industry in India. We have plans to expand our reach globally and continue investing in this travel technology era.
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GEN NXT
'INDIA'S TIER II & III CITIES ARE BIG MARKETS' Vasundhara Gupta, business development and marketing manager, Costa Cruise India, says that the challenge with dealing with Indian clients is that many are very last minute bookings, but do see this changing with the growing millennials Gen Nxt thought: Its important that every customer is not treated as a transaction, but a long-term well-wisher of your brand What was your primary motivation to pursue your professional goals in the travel and tourism sector? After completing my Masters from Warwick University in the UK, I was contemplating working in the UK itself, however in 2013, I decided to move back to India to join the company my mother had set up which looks after Costa Cruises The last six years has very exciting and a great learning experience, as travel within India has been growing with many young Indians planning frequent getaways. They do not share the same interest as their parents to invest in commodities such as homes and cars. The Indian cruising industry
specifically is also seeing a lot of demand within India and since only one per cent of the Indian outbound travel market has been tapped on cruise, there is an even bigger opportunity. The primary motivators were the opportunity to learn, the dynamic nature of business. Is there a particular observation you have made about the industry, both as a challenge or an opportunity? Since I am looking into business development, my work takes me also to the Tier 2 and Tier 3 cities of India. The market in those cities is growing and though they are quite aspirational, they need hand holding, so while we see it as a big
clients is that many are very last minute, but do see this changing with the growing millennials enjoying the planning process of travel and booking early, so that they get the best deals.
Vasundhara Gupta
market for cruises, we have trained our team to be able to speak in local languages and effectively communicate. A challenge with dealing with Indian
What’s your vision for the business? Our company looks after the operations and business development of Costa Cruises in India. In 2016, Costa Cruises was the first cruise liner to homeport a ship to cruise between Mumbai to Maldives. Our vision is to have more Costa Cruise ships home-ported in Indian ports for most parts of the year, making cruising very accessible to the Indian traveller.
Technology has been a substantial game changer. Comment. It’s important for every company to include technology within their business, to effectively reach the growing tech savvy Indian traveller. However, companies that are able to also combine the human factor will always have a leading edge. Your Gen Nxt thought? The Indian travel market is large, but it’s important to be proactive, enthusiastic and always be hungry for the business. Also, it’s important that every customer is not treated as a transaction, but a long-term well-wisher of your brand.
'THE OUTDOORS IS VITALIN TODAY'S TIMES’ Deeya Bajaj, manager - Business Development and Operations, Snow Leopard Adventures speaks about the adventure tourism business Gen Nxt thought: Too much time on the phone results in missing out on the real time experiences Primary motivation to pursue your professional goals in the travel industry? I fell in love with adventure at a very young age. Working with my parents Ajeet Bajaj and Shirley Thomas Bajaj in the adventure tourism business is my dream job. An observation you have made about the industry, both challenges or an opportunity? I think this is an exciting time to be a part of the travel
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and tourism industry because both Indians and foreigners are realising how much we have to offer. Vision for your business? I believe adventure and the outdoors is essential in today's day and age. It provides time to disconnect with technology and reconnect with ourselves. I would like Snow Leopard Adventures to be the best way for people to do this.
Deeya Bajaj
Technology has been a substantial game changer. Comment. Technology has made a significant difference with regards to marketing, the actual booking process and communication while on trips. However when it comes to the actual adventure trip itself, I feel technology can take away from the experience people spend so much time on their phones that at times the actual experience is missed out completely.
Your Gen Nxt Thought? Its an exciting time to be part of this industry. People and realising the importance of moving out of their comfort zones and how spending on experiences can be rather fulfilling. with research coming up that links negative health consequences to being distant from nature (psychoterratica) the adventure and the outdoors will be one of the most popular avenues for people to reconnect with nature.
GEN NXT
‘THE BIGGESTCHALLENGES IN THIS INDUSTRYIS THE LACK OFSTANDARDS IN QUALITY,HYGIENE AND CLEANLINESS' Antara Phookan, executive director – marketing, Assam Bengal Navigation believes that the human element is crucial in the travel industry Gen Nxt thought: Think, India first (not self, but beyond yourself), rest will all align, beautifully! Primary motivation to pursue your professional goals in the travel industry? I am a traveller first, always have been and always will be so I was naturally drawn to the travel industry even though I worked in different industries before committing to the travel industry. Exploring all the beautiful places and diverse cultures in the world has been my most rewarding experience. Not only does it open your mind, it rewards you in countless ways. Travel is my joie de vivre and I am also fortunate to be a part of it professionally. In my late twenties, I realised that I want my everyday to count which meant that I want to do the kind of work that makes me happy and makes an impact. Which is why I made a conscious decision to move back to India to join my family business where I have to invest in creative power to engage in projects that I care about. Tourism industry is the biggest driver of change and I see the first hand impact of it, which is very rewarding. An observation you have made about the industry, both as a challenge or an opportunity? In every challenge there is an opportunity especially in India where there are many gaps that can be filled to develop the
travel and tourism industry to a global standard. However, compared to a small country like Thailand that receives 38 million tourists a year, India has a long way to go. Given that there is no other country like incredible India, there is incredible potential but we can only achieve it with a collaborative effort to optimise our country's potential strategically. To name few of the biggest challenges in this industry is the lack of standards in quality, hygiene and cleanliness. Vision for the business? My vision for our business is to expand our variety of experiences and grow organically and steadily ensuring that we deliver consistent
Technology is inevitable but the human element is crucial. Gen Nxt will continue to use technology to connect, promote and organise but the luxury element will always be the quality of personalised experience Antara Phookan
quality. I would love to be able to continue to develop special products, grow our community and add value.
Technology has been a substantial game changer. Comment. Technology is inevitable but the human element is
crucial even more so in the travel industry. Gen Next will continue to use technology to connect, promote and organise but the luxury element will always be the quality of personalised experience. Gen Nxt thought? My Gen Nxt thoughts are many but if I had to talk specifically about the Indian travel industry - we are sitting on a wealth of potential but we are not sincerely collaborating to build a solid foundation for the future! I personally think, a collaboration of Gen Next to commit to a unified vision for the Indian travel industry is crucial. Think, India first (not self, but beyond yourself), rest will all align, beautifully!
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‘TRAVELPROVIDERS MUSTTAKE CARE TO PROTECTCLIENTDATA’ Corbin Ball, CSP, CMP, DES, MS, owner Corbin Ball & Co, an international speaker, consultant and writer who helps clients use technology to save time and improve productivity, highlights the technology solutions that are predicted to revolutionise the travel industry. By Reema Lokesh What are the technology solutions or apps that will revolutionise the travel industry and compel the travel trade stakeholders to rework their model and adapt to change? Well I feel there are many: A. Machine learning and AI will lead to increase personalization both for hotels and airlines. B. Facial recognition is moving into airline check-in and in initial stages for hotels (especially in China). C. The rise of online meeting space booking tools (espe-
cially for non-traditional spaces using Airbnb like interfaces) will offer many more options. D. The rise of Google in air and hotel booking. E. The internet of things will move into the guest room (occupancy detectors, smart speakers, mobile keys, biometric access, streaming video, and much more) F. Voicebots and chatbots will be used in hotels for customer service and also worker communication. G. Augmented and virtual real-
ity will work their way in travel (virtual site inspections/hot spots/etc.) H. Blockchain will work into flight booking, hotel reservations and car rentals. Technology will continue to transform the industry to make things more personalised and, in general, a smoother experience. Tourism stakeholders should be prepared to embrace these change to stay competitive. What should tourism professionals keep in mind about
the future? Embrace technology change! Millennials and Gen Z like to travel and are increasingly moving into purchasers. They also expect up-to-date technology in their booking and travel experiences. Any challenges you see with rapid technology developments? There are privacy and security issues that should be discussed. Facial recognition can be concerning to many people, especially if it is being
used for government surveillance. Hackers are becoming more numerous and sophisticated, so travel providers must take care to protect client data. Many of the devices in the internet of things need to have higher protection levels for data security. What are positive repercussions of technology in travel? Technology, when used properly, can streamline travel booking and make the experience more personal, frictionfree and memorable.
'DON'TUNDERESTIMATE TECHNOLOGY' Miguel Neves, Chief Social Strategist, miguelseven.com, predicts the tech developments that will influence the travel business in the near future. By Reema Lokesh Travel and technology go in tandem. What does the future hold in this space? The revolution, that is just around the corner is when the all-encompassing apps such as Google Maps and WhatsApp or Facebook Messenger start integrating with each other and making it a seamless experience to place orders, make payments and communicate with all travel providers. This is similar to what already happens in China via the WeChat platform. This will shift our attention away from static websites and long-form blog posts or videos further towards ratings, instant communication and quick purchasing deci-
sions. What kind of revolution do you predict that tech will bring in the travel space? The move towards instant communication with people making purchasing decisions means that there needs to be a massive increase in resources to be able to service these consumers. It's about putting the technology in place for anyone to scroll or walk by a hotel and almost instantly bring up the information they are looking for on their mobile device and make a booking, all within the same app. Large companies such as hotel chains and airlines already do this with their impressive customer service
oriented social media presence. For them, the shift will be an obvious next step, but for the smaller companies, this is not so simple. What tourism professionals should keep in mind about the future? Don't underestimate technology, it changes everything and often not in the way we expect it to. Everyone sees the world in a different way, and we often think about consumer behaviour only from our perspective. Fortunately, there are many different ways to see the world, so how things develop is largely unpredictable. We should all keep an eye on that.
Are there any challenges you see with rapid technology developments? The most important challenges are the abuses that happen, particularly around data privacy. Just because technology enables us to do something doesn't mean that we should do it. Companies make bad decisions around this when they can see a competitive advantage, so there has to be great care here. Ultimately, consumers won't be open to purchasing from a company if they do not feel they can trust it, so companies must handle consumer privacy with great care. What are positive repercus-
sions of technology in travel? We have all the information in the world available on-demand in our pocket. That means we can, if we choose to, make better-informed decisions on everything travel related. We can get help instantly and we can communicate with others. These are all hugely positive things. We may have challenges in understanding the limits and regrettably, some of us become addicted to this ease of use, but we cannot deny the incredible advantages this gives us. The more travel companies can embrace this, the better they are positioned to succeed.
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Automation enables instantaneous disbursals of flight delay insurance claims Insurance companies are using automation and blockchain to disburse flight delay claims even before they are filed by the passengers By Abhishek Rawal
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he wave of emerging technologies like automation - RPA, AI, ML; Blockchain, wearables and others have impacted businesses including travel insurance. The space of insurance has commoditised and the new age born in the cloud insurance companies are leveraging technology to enter into new areas, empowered by technology tools to provide seamless and superior service experience. Flight delay is one such area. Especially during the winter season, due to fog related reasons or in the rainy season. There are insurance companies, who are providing flight delay insurance and disbursing claims proactively even before they are filed for. Digit General Insurance (DGI) offers domestic flight delay insurance. In the business mix, the travel insurance contributes 39 percent, which is the second biggest LoB for DGI. The claims process is automated and simplified, for e.g. In case, the flight gets delayed by 60 mins, DGI informs the customer proactively. “Usually, the customer forgets that he has bought an insurance policy. Hundred percent of flight delay claims are automatic, the passenger gets an SMS, in reply to which, he sends his boarding pass and bank details as soon as the flight is delayed beyond the given time. We also have part-
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Sourabh Chatterjee
Gangadhar S J
nerships with various players to monitor the domestic flights. The analytics runs at the backend tracking how many customers who have bought the policy from us and are travelling in the same flight,” explains Gangadhar S J – Head Technology – Digit General Insurance. The systems are developed inhouse and they are programmed to track the flights 24*7. Following is the Business Mix of Digit General Insurance: Travel Insurance 39 per cent; Motor 42 per cent; Personal assets including Mobile 19 per cent in Volumes.
Blockchain for flight delay insurance disbursal The Bajaj Allianz General Insurance is providing Blockchain based flight delay insurance - ‘Travel Easy’, to its policyholders for international flights. Travel Easy was launched in June, 2018. The claim is automated if the flight gets delayed by 6 hours. The target is to bring it down to two hours. “The insurance companies are hesitant on paying claims. Thus, this is a customer experience and acquisition strategy, and we want to pay claims, even be-
fore its filed by the passengers,” says Sourabh Chatterjee, Head – Technology, Bajaj Allianz General Insurance. The objective is to make the customer realise the experience on service and convince him to buy the other travel products from Bajaj Allianz. The travel insurance is highly commoditized and Blockchain can prove to be a differentiator in immediate claim disbursal. Why Blockchain and not any other technology ? Insurance is basically a contract between the passenger and the insurance company, with
many other stakeholders involved - the travel aggregator, banks, etc. Blockchain, with its characteristic of being immutable i.e., it cannot be tampered with, when its used to host the insurance contract on a cloud platform. The smart contract put on a cloud brings all the participants in the contract on a common trust platform, wherein the smart contract is hosted on the systems of each of them. It drastically eliminates any scope of tampering, which is difficult to do with other technology options available in the market.
TECH TALK
RPA: Helping ixigo improve conversion rates Abhishek Rawal explains how ixigo is using the Robotic Process Automation (RPA) tool to reduce HR costs and increase conversion rates
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he Robotic Process Automation (RPA) tool has impacted the bottom line by 810 per cent, because the features offered have reduced the HR costs and increased the conversion rates. ixigo, the travel and hotel booking ecommerce website has an active user base of three million, with an overall userbase of 100 million travellers. The company has implemented Robotic Process Implementation (RPA), a technology that eliminates repeatable tasks, which requires human intervention. Basically, the tasks done by manual labour are done by a software, known as ‘Software Robots’, for e.g. for doing a webcheckin, previously when the passenger had to fill in all his
Himanshu Periwal
details by himself, now with a software robot, everything is automated after providing the seat type and location. For ixigo, RPA implementation has enabled millions of transactions to be done on a daily basis. “The tool has im-
pacted the bottom line by 8-10 per cent, because the features offered have reduced the HR costs and increased the conversion rates. The employees who were initially handling customer support are now doing cross and upselling,” informs Himanshu Periwal, VP Growth, ixigo. The RPA tool has been built inhouse by the technology team at ixigo, to the extent that the logic inside the tool is indigenous to ixigo. The tool has been designed on the native tech stack. A team of over 10 employees from across functions has designed the product. No off the shelf tool has been used. RPA for intelligent automation has been deployed in more than 100+ sub-processes. The key functions include:
Pre-transaction - Finding the best fares, finding the best time to book followed by suggestions on the fares if the passenger decides to wait until the suggested date, suggesting destinations for vacation etc. In case of regular customers, the autofill option is made available. It eliminates regular details to be typed separately. Transaction - Helping users book tickets, resolving queries around that booking etc. Post-transaction - Handling refund/cancellation queries, in-destination queries/suggestion while travelling etc. “Most of these are done by our AI chatbot TARA which is also integrated on our Whatsapp business account. More-
over, we have fare intelligence product that uses AI & ML to give pre-transaction suggestions,” says Periwal. Hitherto there were 10-12 employees dedicated for handling ticket cancellations and providing refunds. After automation, they have all been moved to other productive functions. The webcheckin facility has been completely automated. The passenger needs to fill in details about the seat type (window/aisle) and location (front or back of aircraft), everything else is automated. Previously, it used to take minutes and now it happens in a few seconds. “TARA handles 75-80 per cent of our transactional user queries, essentially saving work for about 10-12 people per day,” says Periwal.
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Of tech-savvy travellers and emerging technologies… Travel portals are increasingly employing AI and automation to improve the user interface and user experience, says Mark Meehan, managing director for Asia Pacific, Middle East and Africa, Travelport
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ndia has always been a land of travel. A few recent surveys have revealed that India has some of the world’s most digitally-advanced travelers, who use smart devices, and technologies more and better than their global counterparts. They use voice search to research their travel destinations, smartphones to book tickets, social media to share their experiences, and online check-ins and digital boarding passes to avoid the queues at airports. The evolution of consumer behaviour and the travel industry is a cyclic process, each contributing to the other. Today’s consumers seek hassle-free, personalised experiences at every stage of their travel journey; and with so many choices for every kind of service, their brand loyalties are fragile. The only way for players in the travel and tourism industry to survive and succeed is by delivering outstanding experiences at every consumer touchpoint. This is where emerging technologies – as they are commonly referred to– will have an increasingly important role to play. Several international airlines, for instance, have started using artificial intelligence (AI) to deal with social media inquiries, and virtual reality (VR) to offer a preview of the cabin space and onboard facilities. Similarly, hotels and travel companies are designing VR-based websites and apps to offer customers a virtual walk-through of hotels and nearby attractions. AI can deliver digital interactions that are conversational and personal. Online travel agencies like Yatra, MakeMyTrip and Goibibo have
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introduced customer service chatbots that respond to user queries. Chatbots are also used around the world for making reservations and suggesting hotel and room options. These conversations can then be analysed using machine learning to understand customer demographics, profiles, and preferences, and derive data-driven insights. Travel agencies can use this information to better customise itineraries and experiences for travellers. Well-personalised services can lead to greater consumer satisfaction and repeat transactions. Travel portals are increasingly employing AI and automation to improve the user interface and user experience. Some rail travel portals, for instance, employ accurate location-based algorithms to predict the arrival of trains and to map train and bus routes. This allows
The only way for players in the travel and tourism industry to survive and succeed is by delivering outstanding experiences at every consumer touchpoint travelers to easily plan and switch between the two transportation modes when making reservations. When it comes to airlines or hotels, AI enables customers to easily select and compare tariffs and relevant offers for the various combinations of travel dates. They can also be automatically notified of cheaper alternatives available. Social-media listening tools
are useful for business to gauge consumer sentiment before, during and after their travel. If a traveller shares their experience on social media, the listening tool can analyse the intention and the context behind the post. This can help the businesses to take the necessary actions – such as providing additional information, suggesting more options that meet the customer’s requirements, offering them a dis-
count on their next trip, improving specific aspects of their service, and more – to deliver an even better customer experience. Using Big Data and Machine Learning, airlines and airports can build recommendation engines that can help them personalise offers for travellers. The internet of things (IoT) is already helping hotels, airlines, and travel companies streamline their operations by connecting smart devices to systems, and processes. IoT-based travel applications can enable travelers to get real-time notifications on their flight status, directions to their boarding gate, and instructions on security checks. They can also help tourists get useful information on sightseeing, entertainment, and food once they reach their destination. Business travel is on the rise in India and around the world. Travel managers who seek ways to reduce costs often need to undertake the painful task of sifting through huge data silos of varying types and different sources. Instead, they can make use of AI-based travel platforms that unlock insights from internal and external data sources to help them optimise travel programs, control spends, and enhance the travel experience. It would be fair to say that emerging technologies are enabling the transformation of the travel industry to Travel 4.0, like Industry 4.0 is doing for manufacturing. In the process of delivering seamless, personalised experiences for customers, the travel industry will probably help in ensuring that ‘emerging’ technologies are well and truly have ‘arrived’.
DESTINATION OUTBOUND
#inlovewithSwitzerland There are many reasons to fall in love with Switzerland. From experiencing the kick off badminton match for the Swiss Open at Mt Titlis to saying cheese at the a cheese factory, from taking a cruise at Lake Lucerne to that of enjoying some quality chocolates, Switzerland stands true to its hashtag. By Reema Lokesh
#
inlovewithSwitzerland goes the trending hashtag. Well the tourism promoters of the country kept it simple I guess since the answer itself is simple - most travellers in India be it first timers or the evolved are naturally in love with Switzerland. For the chocolate lovers to the nature lovers, for those who care for art to those who get a high with adventure sports and pure sports, it's a country that offers mountains and lakes, museums and melting moments in totality. It’s also a country that insists its visitors must drink water straight out of the tap as they take pride in the purity of their H2O. It’s a country that walks the talk when it comes to nature conservation and gets nourished back by Mother Earth. It’s a country whose people are known for their bravery and loyalty from the days of the French Revolution till date, symbolised by the beautifully carved and cut monument of the iconic injured
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Lion that rests majestically in the city of Lucerne, standing the test of time.
Lucerne Lucerne or Luzern, the city which is stationed geographically in the heart of country, is a perfect city for those who enjoy conversations on foot. Take a walk in the city or around the lake amidst the chestnut tree promenade, stop by for some coffee and chocolate, try and visit the glacier museum close to the Lion monument. The iconic chapel bridge, a wooden pedestrian bridge that goes over Reuss River in the city of Lucerne adds to the character of the city. A walk across the river via this famous bridge is a must do. While stepping on
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the bridge you also step into a part of history as the bridge is recognised to be one of the oldest wooden bridges of Europe. While walking on the bridge, do take time to look up toward the roof of the bridge as well. It has some intersection paintings framed well in a triangular format that depicts events of the past related to the city. Though a sizeable amount of the paintings were distorted in a fire, the ones which were restored are left to be viewed and cherished. For our art and culture lovers and for some easy going strolls the Bruch quarter ranks amongst the more vibrant parts of the city. This lively residential quarter is where you will find a mixed bag of culture, local hand-
crafts, bars and restaurants. As recommended by Lucerne tourism one can visit Treger, a boutique known for its braces and tailored menswear or Mimoa, a source of small, handmade everyday accessories. Also located in the Bruch quarter is the Madeleine, a trendy cultural venue that stages comedy and music. However what one needs experience without fail is a cruise journey on the Lake Lucerne. The lake manoeuvres itself with natural curves, offering a visual delight all through the journey. From nature to history, from culture to cuisine, the lake cruise experience takes you through some unique architecture on the banks to some quality cuisine on-board.
DESTINATION OUTBOUND Engelberg For those who care for some action and adventure then let’s take off from Lucerne straight into Engelberg. Engelberg is a city that is a gateway to the very famous Mt Titlis. The mountain recently played host as the venue for the kick off match for the Swiss Open 2019. Two of India’s leading badminton players - Parupalli Kashyap and Sai Praneeth kickstarted the Yonix Swiss Open with a double badminton exhibition match alongside Switzerland’s leading athlete Sabrina Jacques and Swiss para-athlete Karin Suter - Erath at 10,000 ft on the terrace of Mt Titlis. The players experienced playing badminton in the midst of the Swiss Alpine peaks. The Yonex Swiss
Open (March 12-17) commenced in full swing, almost half a year before the Total BWF Badminton World Championships that is scheduled in August at St Jakobshalle in Basel. "I am excited and thrilled to be playing badminton on Mt Titlis, that too 10,000 ft above sea level. It was a unique experience and a lot of fun to be able to play badminton in one of the most spectacular Bollywood venues. The view is breathtaking, and I am missing Saina. She would have loved being here", said Parupalli Kashyap who got married to fellow shuttler Saina Nehwal last December. Playing against him, Sai Praneeth said, “I am really excited to be here in Basel and I am look-
ing forward to the World Championships this year. This is my first visit to Mt Titlis and it has been such a great experience.” However, Engelberg is not only about Mt Titlis, but also about some interesting heritage and
culture. It is home to a beautiful Benedictine monastery that has Switzerland’s largest pipe organ. Engelberg is also known for adventure sports from sledging to ice skating and more. But what you need to explore is the local
cuisine. For those experimental foodies, do end your trip with some Kafee schnapps and the brave hearted can further go on try some Kafee nils. It will surely leave you with a high. High on Switzerland.
‘PLANS ARE ON TO REBUILD THE WHOLE PEAK STATION’ Frédéric Fussenich, director, Engelberg- Titlis Tourism, highlights what’s new in the region and the relevance of the India market to the region. By Reema Lokesh What are the primary highlights of your destination? We are very happy that we are so popular in India and every year more and more Indian guests visit our destination. I guess it is on every bucket list to visit once Mt Titlis and experience all the different activities. You will go up with our world famous gondola Titlis Rotair, the first revolving cable car in the world. On top, you can walk over the highest suspension bridge in Europe and enjoy a breathtaking view over the alps. Take the Glacier Express, a chair lift over deep blue crevasses to our fun park and can play in the snow with all kinds of sledges. Don't forget to go in the glacier cave and touch 40, 000 year old ice. What are the new aspects and elements that you wish to add to your product portfolio in the near future?
We are planning to rebuild the whole peak station with the world famous architects Herzog & de Meuron. Visitors will exit the gondala onto a concourse level with the glacier, with a sloping walkway leading to escalators and the exit. The previously obstructed view west over the mountains will be visable from a walkway below the cable car station. A selection of restaurants, which will be able to seat 550 people, will be located on the top floor of the station. Herzog & de Meuron will also renovate the underground tunnel that connects the station to the antenna tower. An "ice grotto" will allow visitors to view the glacier from the inside. The 50-metre-high beam antenna tower was built from industrial steel by the Swiss Post in 1980s. It was bought by Titlis railways, when new technology rendered it mostly obsolete, although the
concrete base, giving direct access to the tower from the glacier. Up in the new levels, a bar, restaurant and lounge can seat 330 people with views south over the Alps and of Switzerland to the north.
Frédéric Füssenich
antenna remains in use. Two steel intersecting beams will turn the infrastructure tower into a landmark attraction. Stairs and lifts will run up the four vertical supports, reinforcing the structure. A lobby will be carved into the existing
Is accommodation during peak season a concern for tourism in your region? If yes any ways to tackle the same? More and more individual tourists from India come with their families to Engelberg. We are very happy that we can offer a huge variety of apartments and hotels to cover this demand. If you travel during peak season you should book at least a month in advance in order to get the accommodation you prefer. Can you throw some light on the forthcoming Swiss Open 2019 scheduled in August? Any plans to promote it in the
India market? We have some ideas but it is a bit too early to tell but for sure we will take up this great opportunity. What are the hidden and unexplored aspects of your destination? One of my favourite places is a hidden cable car station called Fürenalp. You go up with a tiny little gondola to 1800 m. On top you will find a cozy restaurant with authentic Swiss cuisine. The view and the atmosphere is fantastic! Is there a message that you wish to share for the India market? Drink the water from the tap while you are in Engelberg. It comes straight from the mountain, is crystal clear and the taste is better than any water from a plastic bottle. What’s more, it is for free.
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DESTINATION OUTBOUND
'WE ARE CONSTANTLYINNOVATING THE PRODUCT' Tobias Matter, sales director, Titlis Cableways, Hotels & Restaurants speaks about India market strategies and the new products the destination has on offer for its Indian clientele. By Reema Lokesh Your destination has a strong brand recall in the India market. What are the strategies you aim to put in place to keep the product constantly refreshed and a must visit destination? We have been maintaining over the last many years a 4wheel drive approach. As you know we have a strong physical presence with our office in India and this helps us be constantly in touch with the pulse of the trade and the traveller. We work very strongly with our trade partners with joint marketing activities which promote both their and our brand. We reach out to the end consumer with strategic advertisement placements in travel and lifestyle magazines. We even have a presence on television, movie theatres, on various hoardings and metro stations. This keeps us always in the mind and conscious with the targeted audience. Here in Switzerland we are con-
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stantly innovating the product to ensure that even our regular Swiss visitors have something new to look forward to every year. Last year we inaugurated the summer park for children at Truebsee and had a snow gun installed to ensure fresh snowfall for all our clients every day. This year we will install a zip-line at Truebsee to enhance the summer experience at the lake. What are the primary highlights and USP of the destination? For the Indian market, of course it is the guaranteed snow. Our highlights include the way to go up with the Rotair, the world’s first revolving cable car, the Ice-Flyer, the unique and free for use Glacier Park with the various sliding toys, Europe’s highest suspension bridge - the Titlis Cliff walk and a surreal visit into a world of eternal ice in the Glacier Cave. But I must say that for our Indians, our
Tobias Matter
Indian food is also a highlight. Then, of course,there is our location in the heart of Switzerland which means that our clients can visit us for a day trip from almost all parts of Switzerland and even parts of Germany and Italy. What are your future target markets for India? How do you aim to brand and promote the same in the emerging markets? We are now fairly well established in the Tier I & II markets. Our aim in now to penetrate into Tier III cities with strategic brand awareness campaign with smaller and more local players in these markets. We will not see an initial leap but our sustained efforts will surely bear fruit just as it did in other markets. In collaboration with Switzerland Tourism, we will also conduct a few educational sessions in these cities. Our percentage growth from these cities will in the next five years outstrip the
growth of the bigger cities. I would not call India or any part of it as an emerging market. For us the whole country has evolved into being our best market and the signs are very positive of it being in that position for a long time. Is there a strategy to provide the tour operators with better partnership deals especially in the established markets? Yes, of course! That has always been our strategy and our best partners get the best support. But we always like to encourage and support the young buds too. Are there any specific niches you aim to work on namely MICE travel, luxury travel, senior citizen travel, kids as a target market? For us all these segments are important. 20 years ago we had only two segments i.e. groups and FITs. Now they have been sub-divided into very strong sub-seg-
ments. MICE is the fastest growing segment for us. Lately school and education institute travel has also picked up. The good thing is that our product has a lot to offer to all segments. We are very adaptive and just to give you an idea, in May this year we will handle one movement of 12,000 people. That itself is a statement! Since we are a summer and winter destination we are able to address all segments throughout the year. Any message you wish to share? Yes - I would like all your readers of the travel trade to get in touch with Rayomand Choksi in Mumbai for any information or assistance that they may need as all decisions for India are taken by him. I would also like to thank them for their support in making Mt Titlis the number one mountain excursion for the Indian traveller and making India our number one overseas market.
MOVEMENTS Air India SATS Airport Services (AISATS)
Vivanta by Taj Holiday Village, Taj Exotica, Goa and more. Sofitel Mumbai BKC has recently appointed Rajat Sachdev as its new pastry chef. Holding over eight years of culinary experience, Chef Sachdev in his new role will
Air India SATS Airport Services (AISATS), India’s premier airport services company, announced the appointment of Ramanathan Rajamani (Ramana) as its new chief executive officer, ef-
Pankaj Sampat
eral manager of Vivanta President. He joined IHCL in 1993 at The Taj Mahal Palace, Mumbai. Whilst managing his new role, Sampat will also additionally continue to carry out his responsibility as Center of Excellence (COE) lead for Food & Beverage Concepts. Ramanathan Rajamani
fective November 10, 2018. He succeeds Mike Chew who was AISATS’ chief executive officer since October 2015. Rajamani brings with him over 15 years of experience in both military and civil aviation sectors. He started his career with the Defence Science and Technology Agency ensuring reliability of fighter jets for the Republic of Singapore Air Force (RSAF). He joined SATS in 2011 as head of the engineering team. Under his able leadership, the team later won the first patent for the organisation. He also won Singapore’s prestigious National Productivity Award in 2016 for his enormous contribution to SATS.
Taj Asia (TAL) & Taj Safaris (TSL) Pankaj Sampat is now the area director, Sri Lanka, Maldives & Malaysia and head, Taj Asia (TAL) & Taj Safaris (TSL). He launched and positioned the new Taj Santacruz, Mumbai when he was the general manager of the hotel, prior to which he was the gen-
Accor Hotels Novotel Imagica Khopoli has appointed Avinash Kumar as its new executive chef. Chef Kumar who comes
the director of sales. With an experience of nearly 10 years in the hospitality sector, Malik is known for his active competence as a team player and has worked with leading hospitality brands like The Oberoi group, Hilton Mumbai, Trident, etc., among others. During his assignment with Novotel Pune, Malik will be responsible for the development and implementation of business strategies for the property. Malik will be responsible for bringing new ideas, strategies and implementing them successfully at the hotel.
Dabur India The Dabur India board has approved the appointment of Mohit Malhotra as the company’s new chief executive officer with effect from April 1, 2019. Malhotra, who is currently the CEO of the company’s India business, will succeed current chief executive officer Sunil Duggal. Malhotra, who was also appointed as a
JW Marriott Kolkata
ensure that the pastry team provides consistent quality of food and beverage, in accordance with international standards, enhancing their own ability to create with a purpose of achieving complete guest satisfaction and organisational profitability, and ensuring an atmosphere of high team morale. In his previous assignments, Chef Sachdev has worked with The Leela Ambience Hotel Gurgaon, Hyatt Hyderabad Gachibowli, Shangri-La Eros Hotel New Delhi, JW Marriott Chandigarh, and The Oberoi New Delhi. Sameer Malik has recently joined Novotel Pune as
In a career spanning over 12 years, Sabrina Dey has been appointed as the director of operation at JW Marriott Kolkata. In her new role, Dey will be seen effectuating strategies to support business growth, revenue generation through up-selling of products and services, and creation of value through designing new products. Ensuring strict compliance with quality, safety, environment and health standards, her focus will demonstrate creativity conceptualising and executing unique guest experiences. Following her Diploma in Hotel Management from The Oberoi Centre for Learning and Development (OCLD) in 2008, Dey kick-started her career with The Oberoi Mumbai as assistant manager, F&B, where she was also a recipient of the FLO GR8 Award for Bravery 2009 for her
Sameer Malik
Sabrina Dey
Rajat Sachdev
Avinash Kumar
with over 15 years of culinary experience, in his new role, will be looking after the functioning of the hotel in terms of setting the menu and mentoring the culinary team to source the right candidates for F&B. Chef Kumar, in his previous assignments, worked with The Lalit, New Delhi, The Lalit Golf & Spa Resort, Goa, The Holiday Inn Resort, Goa,
commitment to guest relations during the 26/11 terror attack at the hotel.
Mohit Malhotra
whole-time director of the company with effect from January 31, 2019, will work as CEO-Designate till March 31, 2019, under the guidance of Duggal.
The Ritz Carlton Bangalore Tusch Daroga appointed as the hotel manager at The Ritz-Carlton, Bangalore brings with him a wealth of experience spanning over 16 years in hospitality, across leading luxury hotel brands such as The Oberoi Hotels & Resorts, The Leela Palaces, Hotels & Resorts and Trident Hotels. In his latest capacity, Daroga is responsible for leading the team in achieving operational efficacy and creating exceptional guest experiences by instilling initiatives to empower employees and inspiring a thriving work culture. Being a passionate hotelier, accomplishing enhanced guest satisfaction is his forte.
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weekend
E V E N T S
AWARDS FOR EXCELLENCE Madhya Pradesh presents Awards for Excellence in Tourism Development Sector for 2018. Tourism minister Surendra Singh Baghel facilitated awards in 36 different categories at International Convention Centre (Minto Hall)
SANJEEV K AGARWAAL of SSR Marine along with Sushil Shamlal Wadhwa of Platinum World Group (PWG) . Odyssey powered by PWG sets sail at Mumbai Maiden Cruise
J&K DELEGATION IN Mumbai. Reiterating Tourism is the best key to National Intergration and International Friendship
SHUTTLING IN SWITZERLAND Indian Badminton Sports Stars at the Promo Swiss Open 2019 Tournament organised by Switzerland Tourism at Mt Titlis
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REGD.WITH RNI NO. MAHENG/2005/15993,POSTAL REGD. NO. MCS/163/2019 – 21, PUBLISHED ON 11TH EVERY MONTH, POSTED ON 12TH,13TH,14TH OF EVERY MONTH, POSTED AT MUMBAI PATRIKA CHANNEL SORTING OFFICE,MUMBAI – 400001.