Tag Archives: TravTalk Digital Conclave

Focusing on inbound traffic from the USA, Alan Merschen, Partner (International Insights) at MMGY Global and Chairperson, Travel Consul, speaking at the 5th TravTalk Digital Conclave, shared, “Over 90% of American tourists will be open to explore new destinations. It is really a time to keep communicating and not ‘wait and see’. The Indian travel trade needs to think quality, not quantity. There might be fewer trips but longer trips. Don’t think about the number of visitors but the revenue you are earning.”

Sharing an update on the UK market at the 5th TravTalk Digital Conclave, Amanda Hills, Founder and CEO, Hills Balfour, said, “The UK has a long-standing relationship with India; it is the third-biggest source market after Bangladesh and the USA. And there has never been a bigger opportunity for India to tap into the UK market. It’s India’s moment to shine. Travellers will be looking to travel for a longer time to reduce the risk of travelling, and what India offers really matches what UK is looking for.”

As an expert on the Italian market, Massimo Tocchetti, President, AIGO, speaking at the 5th TravTalk Digital Conclave, said, “As the fourth-largest European market for India, Italians are preferring back-to-nature activities and luxury products. With the right communication, the right marketing and the right presence in the market, you can win the battle. This is the time for India to reinvent not just as a destination but also reinvent its relationships.”

Get insights on profitability and inspiring the confidence to travel at TravTalk’s 5th Digital Conclave on August 7, Friday, at 3 pm. Panellists include international speakers and real heroes who lead by example. To register for the sessions, email to jaspreet.kaur@ddppl.com or call +919650196532.

Meenakshi Sharma, Director General, Ministry of Tourism (MOT), claimed that she is against regulation and prefers collaboration with the industry. Speaking at 4th TravTalk Digital Conclave, she said, “I believe in partnering and working together. However, I would like a database to be created where we can connect with each other. I am against regulation, but all for collaboration. I would be very happy if the industry takes that initiative and bring everyone together, so that we can talk.”

The 4th edition of the TravTalk Digital Conclave will begin today at 10am till 1:30pm. There will be 3 sessions each of 1-hour duration, which will lay emphasis on revenge tourism, while exploring the way forward. Experts from various sectors of travel and tourism will share their views at the digital event. To register, please email to jaspreet.kaur@ddppl.com or call +9650196532. Panellists for the first session titled ‘Re-engineering Tourism- Reducing fears and establishing confidence’ (10am-11am), will be Riaz Munshi from OTOAI, Sunil VA from Oman Air, Ritu Sharma from Switzerland Tourism. For the second session, titled ‘What will the travel restart look like? – Managing customer experience’ (11:15am to 12:15pm), there will be Mohamed Khater from RAKTDA, Kamal Hingorani from SpiceJet and Guldeep Singh Sahni from Weldon Tours and Travels. In the third session, ‘India Tourism Board? – A practical vision for the future’ (12:30pm-1:30pm), the panellists will be Meenakshi Sharma from MOT, Arjun Sharma from Select Group and EM Najeeb from IATO.

Mandeep Singh Lamba, President – South Asia, HVS ANAROCK, has said that the hospitality industry would see changes in terms of design and operations after the COVID-19 crisis is over. Speaking at the third TravTalk Digital Conclave, he said, “There are going to be some permanent changes that will happen in the industry, both in terms of operations of the hotels and in terms of design. We need to understand that this is perhaps not the last time we are seeing a disruption of this kind. It’s a reality which can hit us again, and hence we need to be far better prepared the next time. This crisis has stirred the industry into making some serious changes.”

Bharat Bhushan Atree, Managing Director, Caper Travel Company during the 3rd TravTalk Digital Conclave said that with new technology in the industry, new virtual reality products should be introduced for tourism. “Sustainability is the biggest issue right now. Spending wisely should be the only smart plan B. We should look at curating innovative products to promote inbound tourism and strategize our marketing and promotional approach. There should not be a lot of expectation from the government. A lot of people will also look at consolidation in the industry,” he said.  

Speaking at the third edition of the TravTalk Digital Conclave held on May 15, 2020, Rajeev Jain, Director, Rashi Entertainment said that weddings will start happening in India by December 2020. He said, “The last wedding we did was on February 29, 2020 in Udaipur. But this situation is not that big a problem for those who have cash reserves. These months are anyways an off-season for weddings. Business would definitely come back by December 2020 with a bang and it will be back in India. The expense is not a hurdle as people have money to spend on weddings. The wedding industry is here to stay!”

“Corporates will not buy travel the same way as before, that’s for sure. The entire travel industry is going to move to IT. They will also have to learn how to close deals on the phone,” said Rajdev Bhattacharya, GM, Global Travel & Hospitality Services and Way2go, Digital Operations & Platforms for Wipro, when speaking at TravTalk’s third Digital Conclave on May 15. The session, where Bhattacharya spoke at length about how travel companies also needed to relook at the mix of people they were to hire based on skill sets, aimed to highlight the timelines when the Indian travel industry could start looking at weddings as well as corporate and M!CE travel in the road to tourism’s recovery.