Category Archives: Agents

Private Safaris Southern Africa, a leading destination management company based in South Africa and Namibia, has recently appointed The Strategy Store as its representative in India. Talking about the appointment, Monika Iuel, CEO, Private Safaris Southern Africa says, “The Private Safaris brand has always enjoyed a healthy support from the Indian market. By partnering with The Strategy Store, and through their excellent relationships and reputation, we will no doubt improve our footprint even further. We look forward to the presence our new partnership with The Strategy Store will bring us.” Commenting on the development, Sherry Varma, Founder, The Strategy Store said, “We have a very emotional connection to South Africa, and we are extremely happy to be assigned the task of handling marketing and sales for Private Safaris Southern Africa in India. Private Safaris’ competitive packages and quality of services will help us to develop and multiply their market share in India. We are very thankful to Private Safaris for this opportunity and are very excited to be part of the team.” Private Safaris arranges all aspects of destination management services in Southern Africa for FITs, groups, business and leisure.

Representation World has been appointed as the official India representative for Reunion Island Tourism for the fourth time in a row. Speaking on re-appointing the company as their face in India, William Techer, Head of Promotion & Marketing India, Reunion Island Tourism Board, said, “We are extremely happy to announce Representation World as our official India representative. Under their focused aegis, we have delivered various successful campaigns in the past and tourist arrivals from India to the destination has increased to multiple folds. We are very happy to associate with them and look forward for another encouraging inning with them. India is a promising market and there is a huge opportunity for Reunion Island to tap this burgeoning market. We will also be introducing new marketing strategies and few innovative campaigns, exclusively for India market that will further strengthen India and Reunion Island travel, relationships.” Vineet Gopal, Director – India, Reunion Island Tourism Board shared, “We are extremely happy and feel proud to be appointed as India representative for the Reunion Island Tourism Board. This country has a lot to offer to Indian travellers and there is lot to be explored and experience there. We will ensure that we keep up doing good work and will deliver as per the expectation of the tourism board”. Representation World has already started the activities from June 2018 and will take over all the India market activities from immediate effect.

With around 27 per cent of its overall business be it the holiday side and 15 per cent of its foreign exchange business coming through the online channel Thomas Cook is now focusing on enhancing customer experience. Speaking at a media interaction Mahesh Iyer, Executive Director & CEO, Thomas Cook (India) Ltd said, “As a channel we have seen decent growth coming in and we are clocking around 30 per cent CAGR year on year and are quite optimistic on the future of online business. Our focus in the long term is on customer experience. If we look at the current summers we are operating we have packed new experiences like curated food menu by Ranveer Brar, Boman Irani doing a red carpet night for our travelers. We have also launched Japan this year in terms of adding new destinations and have already crossed 1000 passengers.” In terms of forex Thomas Cook is looking to bring more digital options for the customer. It is working on a premium product and will soon be launching a mobile card which will allow customers to use their prepaid card on the NFC platform. He further added, “There is lot of innovation and product development happening with an underline of technology. We launched our customer self service app which allows the customer to keep tab on their bookings, visa status, itineraries etc.”

Cholan Tours Pvt Ltd has signed an agreement with Andhra Pradesh Tourism Department for special darshans of Lord Venkateshwara at world famous shrine Tirupati Balaji, thus becoming first tour company to offer this service in collaboration with the Tourism Department. It is a known fact that it is probably the most visited Hindu temple by devotees from all over India and also by NRIs settled across the world. Pandian, MD of Cholan Tours Group informs, “Recent news reports mentioned that on certain days pilgrims waited for darshan for 20 hours and even people who paid Rs 300 for VIP darshan waited for 6 hours. Given the fact that mostly family members and elderly people come for Tirupati, these uncertain waiting hours are always a big concern for who wish to do this pilgrimage. Here, we in association with Andhra Pradesh Tourism come with a service of guaranteed special darshan (in maximum 02 hours’ time) in morning slot. I believe it will be a good news for those potential pilgrims who wishes to come to this holy destination. Those who book with us, will be taken in a group escorted by a guide who will ensure a quick & smooth passage for the tourists-cum-pilgrims.” He further informs that soon South Tourism will have its own office in Tirupati to ensure better coordination for the clients who book this service with them.

Cleartrip has tied up with the Kerala Tourism Development Corporation (KTDC) as its exclusive online booking partner for local tours and activities. Under the association, KTDC will sell all of its exclusive set of activities through the Cleartrip platform, including both existing and new inventory of conducted tours and boat trips. The partnership is also Cleartrip’s first with a government tourism board, marking a major milestone for the online travel agency. Commenting on the association, Ankit Rastogi, VP- Experiences and Accommodation, Cleartrip, said, “The biggest benefit of this tie-up will be to the travellers, who now can access and book all of KTDC’s inventory of tours and activities online on a single platform. We hope that this partnership will spur more such associations where Cleartrip partners with other government tourism promoters to make their offerings available through its online portal.” Mr Rajmohan, Marketing Manager, KTDC, commented, “Our goal is to extend greater convenience in terms of planning and booking these popular activities. We have recently launched a new set of conducted tours to highlight local experiences which best convey the state’s distinct culture and heritage. Cleartrip’s pioneering efforts in the tours and activities space made it our first choice when it came to choosing a partner to help us connect with and engage young travellers.”

Globus has recently introduced Private Touring in Europe designed for parties ranging from two to two dozen people. Any Europe itinerary can be converted to a Private Touring experience once an itinerary is chosen and the travelling party’s numbers have been confirmed. Of particular interest to travellers looking for a multi-generational experience, there is no age restriction for travellers and even infants can join on the tour. “The biggest opportunity for agents is with friends and family groups,” stated Varesh Chopra, Regional Director – South Asia & Middle East, Globus family of brands. “A Globus Private Tour is a great way to give those groups that perfect balance of logistics support with the personalised delivery of catering to their particular group. For all agents who have those group prospects,reaching out proactively now to suggest a private tour could translate to a nice incremental revenue opportunity along with a great experience for their clients.” Above the brochure price for the regular tour, travellers pay a supplement based on the number of people in the group. The higher the number of guests, the lower the supplement per person.  

The Society for Incentive Travel Excellence (SITE), recently held its networking meeting in Delhi. Speaking at the event, Anup Nair, President, SITE said, “We have invited people from different fields of the industry. We are hoping to introduce SITE to them and bring the India chapter to limelight. We have 40 members in India, and with more people being aware of the value of this membership, I hope there will be more traction.” On the value of this membership, he said, “The value is in education in the field of incentive travel. Since incentive travel is such a powerful tool for driving business results. So incentive travel business results is what SITE is about, giving education to use incentive travel to drive business results.” Shoba Mohan, Founder-Partner, RARE India has been appointed as the Director Communication for SITE India chapter. She said, “When I learnt of what SITE does globally, it just seemed like the kind of things we love to do at RARE. We would be definitely doing the SITE members meet every month. SITE believes in a lot of education content, empowering people with a lot of knowledge based around incentives. That is something we will be focusing on.”  

Indian start-ups Sakha Consulting Wings: Women on Wheels and Global Himalayan Expedition were awarded this year’s highest grants of €325k and €400k respectively by Booking.com. The company has announced the 10 sustainable tourism start-ups receiving scaling grants as part of its 2018 Booking Booster accelerator programme. After three weeks of workshops and intensive coaching sessions, the programme culminated in a final pitch to receive grants of up to €500k from Booking.com’s €2 million fund to help support the next stage of the startups’ projected growth. The 10 teams of finalists pitched their scaling plans to a live audience and panel of expert judges in Amsterdam. “We are delighted that two startups from India with great ideas focused on sustainable tourism were a part of the grand finale and both have received a combined total grant of €7.25 lakhs. Our aim is to build a network of like-minded organisations and individuals that are leveraging technology to create a more sustainable future for destinations worldwide,” said Ritu Mehrotra, Country Manager – India, Booking.com on the sidelines of the Booking Booster finale held at Tobacco theatre, Amsterdam. All the startups that participated in the program will receive 12 months of ongoing mentoring and coaching from a strategic mix of Booking.com experts representing all parts of the business, as well as opportunities and access to collaborate with Booking.com on potential innovation initiatives and experiments to help accelerate their future growth.

As Russia looks forward to welcoming football enthusiasts for the FIFA World Cup 2018, VFS Global offers extra convenience to football fans by providing access to more than 165 of its Visa Application Centres across the globe as distribution points for Fan IDs. A Fan ID is a personalised spectator’s card, which provides fast and convenient access to the stadium. Fans have the option of selecting their nearest most convenient Visa Application Centre for delivery of their FAN IDs. In addition, with a Fan ID foreign spectators can enter Russia visa-free. It also entitles spectators to free travel on special trains connecting the host cities and on public transportation of the host cities on match days. Entry and exit to the Russian Federation with a Fan ID will be possible starting ten days prior and after to the date of the first and last matches of the 2018 FIFA World Cup. Prabuddha Sen, Chief Operating Officer – CIS & Eastern Europe, VFS Global, said, “We are delighted to be working with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation and offer our services to facilitate Fan IDs for the upcoming 2018 FIFA World Cup. Fans can collect the spectator’s card from our 165 application centres across 72 countries worldwide. Vast network of centres, easy accessibility, online tracking, amongst other advantages, will make it much more convenient for visitors, providing them with greater speed and transparency in the process, thereby enhancing their overall World Cup experience.”

Cox & Kings Global Services (CKGS) has recently opened a new Thai Visa Application Centre (VAC) in Chennai. Located at Wellingdon Estate Building, the centre will serve as the Hub VAC for its South India operations and cater to all categories of visas such as tourist, transit, non-immigrant, business, work, crew and medical visa. The new centre was inaugurated by Her Excellency Krongkanit Rakcharoen, Consul-General, Royal Thai Consulate-General, Chennai in the presence of senior CKGS officials. Speaking on the occasion, Rakcharoen said, “Thailand has emerged as one of the most favourite destinations for Indians with the number of travellers crossing a million mark. Considering the growing number of travellers from Chennai, it was essential to start the visa application service centre for this region. With CKGS, we aim to continue hassle-free visa processing for Indian travellers and maintain high professional standards.” Commenting on the opening, Venku Murthi, Chief Operating Officer, CKGS said, “We are expanding out footprints in south India with the commitment to ensure excellent visa services to applicants who want to travel to Thailand.’’ The visa application form can be filled online but the applicants would have to visit the VAC to submit printout of the duly signed application form along with other required documents and collect them once the visa has been issued.