Category Archives: Agents

TBO Group unveiled its industry first ‘B2A’ strategy at the Arabian Travel Market. Talking about this new strategy, Gaurav Bhatnagar, Co-founder TBO Group, said, “B2A for us means two things – Back 2 Agents which is an acknowledgement of the fact that more and more travellers are now going back to travel agents for advise and bookings. Studies show that millennials are increasingly feeling fatigued by the information overload and lack of trust in online channels. Further, as people’s travel needs mature, they look for more and more exotic experiences which can’t be booked online. B2A also means Business 2 Agents. Travel Agents provide the most effective distribution and marketing channel for destinations, hotels and experience providers to reach out new customers. TBO platform has over 47,000 travel agents across more than 100 countries. TBO Academy is an innovative learning platform which allows travel bookers to learn about new destinations. We encourage all travel suppliers, and specially hotels to think about the B2A channel differently from the B2C and B2B channels to reach out to the offline customers without fear of rate abuse” The travel distribution business has so far largely been segregated between B2C and B2B. While B2C stands for direct to consumer OTAs, B2B has been used to broadly cover all other indirect distribution channels. TBO believes that this kind of classification short changes a very important part of the distribution change – Travel Agents. Travel Agents account for the bulk of travel sales globally. Travel Agents act as a very important link between travel suppliers and the end consumers, educating travellers on new destinations, new hotels and new experiences. Travel Agents provide end to end fulfilment for …

Vineet Gopal, Director, Meet 2 Travel said,” We are excited for Meet 2 Travel to join Corporate Alliance Group family. This acquisition is of two likeminded companies having same values and business interest, definitely with Corporate Alliance Group we will be bigger and better, the new M2T connect & expertise will help clients optimize their travel spend and improve their travel booking experience. The acquisition creates clear opportunities, including a significant increase in scale and network reach, volume as well, all resulting in stronger customer service.” Barun Gupta, Vice President, Sales Strategy, Business Development & Partnerships, India said this acquisition is start of new phase at Corporate Alliance Group as we are planning and shortlisted other acquisitions in near future in South Asia and South East Asia . We are excited by the exceptional opportunities we expect we will see in the future.”

Europamundo Vacations is a JTB group company, the largest travel and tourism Company in Asia. Europamundo Vacations has introduced 21 special tours for the Arabic Market with Arabic speaking tour leaders. Europamundo is majorly knows as an European coach tour operator but they also have popular coach tours to Japan, Korea, China, Mexico, Turkey etc. Globally 1,50, 000 passengers from 51 different nationalities have travelled with Europamundo. On the global tours which is just in the 3rd year of operations have already crossed 10,000 passengers this year and still counting.

The Indian travel agents market is expected to reach USD40 bn by 2022, as per a latest study by KPMG and Google. The share of Online Travel Agents (OTAs) is set to increase to 47 per cent in 2022. Currently OTAs in India cater to a range of travel related booking services –airlines, accommodation and lodging, package holidays, cab rentals, cruise sales, travel insurance and other transport services. This includes both leisure and business travel sales. Leisure travel forms a majority of sales for OTAs and continues to remain the focus for major Indian OTAs in the near future. Few players in the accommodation and cab rental spaces maintain their own inventory. While aggregators are focused on on-boarding service providers onto their platform, players with own inventory are more focused on differentiating via service quality.

Contiki has appointed MakeMyTrip as one of their preferred sales agents (PSA). The OTA will feature Contiki’s bestseller trips and promote them through its website as well as their retail outlets and B2B channels. India is a growing market and key area of focus for Contiki, with trip bookings increasing three-fold over the past five years. With Make My Trip, Contiki hopes to further expand its reach and inspire young travellers to embark on a trip of a lifetime to Europe and beyond. With three main travel styles, Discoverer (‘see it all, do it all’), Iconic Essentials (‘stretch your budget’) and In-Depth Explorer (‘go local’), travellers have a wide variety of trips to choose from, ranging from trips spanning a few days to over one month. “Our agent partners have shared that over 80% of their millennial customers make enquiries about international travel, and most specifically Europe is trending. More importantly, the majority of our customers are searching for their trips via mobile and digital devices. As Contiki offers trips specifically for 18 to 35-year-olds, and with our diverse range of 300 trips across 6 continents, we are excited to embark on this partnership with MakeMyTrip to connect with young travellers seeking worldwide adventures where they can travel with no regrets. We know that our customers are after local insight, and are looking for experiences that they may not be able to find on their own. With this in mind, Contiki is the best choice where we’ve got everything covered – from the essentials to the awesome people from all around the world that choose to travel with us!” says Timothy Su, Senior Sales & Marketing Manager, Asia. Commenting on …

Hong Kong’s largest hotel group, Harbour Plaza Hotels & Resorts recently concluded its roadshow in India.  During the roadshow, from April 8 -12, the sales representatives met with more than 200 customers from corporations, professional conference organisers and travel agencies in Mumbai and Delhi. The delegates were from- Harbour Grand Kowloon, Harbour Plaza Metropolis, Kowloon Harbour Front, Harbour Plaza 8 Degrees and Harbour Plaza Resort City. “India is a key market for our hotels in Hong Kong. We like to bring to our business partner the latest updates and development of our group which include the recently renovated Harbour Grand Kowloon lobby with the ‘Prisms of light’ – a chandelier of 150,000 pieces Swarovski crystals. In the third quarter of this year, a new tower extension of the hotel with 360 brand new guest rooms and suites, all with a panoramic view of either the city or the harbour, will be opened. This will bring the total room inventory to close to 1,000, becoming one of the biggest 5 star hotels in Hong Kong”, said Priyanka, Director of Nijhawan Group, GSA for Harbour Plaza Hotels & Resorts in India. “We’re opening this fall a brand new hotel, which will bring the group’s total room inventory in the city to more than 9300 rooms. Hotel Alexandra, with 840 guest rooms, is well located at the North Point harbour front. The hotel is designed exquisitely melding sophisticated French neoclassicism with contemporary elements, a combination of timeless affluent elegance and modern concepts delighting even the most discerning travelers. The lobby is adorned with rich red and gold colour, accented on numerous grand chandeliers with a judicious use of mirrors, flower engraved golden doors, …

The Association of Domestic Tour Operators (ADTOI) has recently opened its Northeast Chapter in Guwahati. Rajesh Arya, Vice President, ADTOI, says, “Recently we opened our 10th chapter in the Northeast. Further, we are likely to open two more chapters shortly after the elections- Madhya Pradesh and Tamil Nadu. The timeline we are looking at is, July-August. Also, the convention is due this year, which we will conduct in August or September, most likely.

Mazda Travel has partnered with APT to offer their Canada & Alaska tour and cruise programs exclusively to Indian travel agents. Mernoz Shastri, Director, Mazda Travel, says, “We are well-known as the India GSA for the Rocky Mountaineer. It was only logical that we partner with APT who have over 90 years history as Australia’s largest and most successful tour operator. Their award-winning Canada and Alaska tours make Mazda Travel a one-stop shop for Indian agents wanting to offer their clients the trip of a lifetime to this beautiful part of the world.” APT offers unique inclusions in their fully-inclusive programs that include ‘Freedom of Choice’ dining where guests are free to choose when, where and who they dine with from multi-choice menus in a variety of restaurants. ‘Freedom of Choice’ sightseeing allows them to select the activity that best suits their interest from a comprehensive range of options, along with guaranteed view rooms at Fairmont hotels and Resorts, luxurious Wi-Fi equipped coaches and the best tour directors in the business.   Another feature of the APT range is the inclusion of a seven-night Inside Passage Cruise on Holland America Line or Princess Cruise ships. Craig James, Sales Manager, APT, says, “We always have the cruise at the end of your land tour, it’s a highlight amongst many great experiences and it is wonderful to enjoy the land tour but still have the spectacular cruise to look forward to.” APT tours have no hidden extra costs or optional excursions.  All tipping, round-trip airport transfers, porterage, port charges and more are all included in the commissionable price.   Explaining why Mazda Travel chose to partner with APT, Shastri says, “I spend …

TPConnects, a new generation global travel technology provider to the airlines and travel sellers, has announced that TPConnects was granted “ONE Order Capable” status as an Order Management System for its ONE Order-based solution, under the ONE Order Certification Program. This certification recognizes that TPConnects ONE Order-based solution, “Offer and Order Management System” supports deployments using Accounting and Delivery capabilities for Flights and Ancillaries whose schemas are compliant with the standard ONE Order message schema, version 18.2. ONE Order is an IATA messaging standard that aims to modernize reservation systems by combining passenger information currently held in different systems into one record. The IATA ONE Order program will simplify airline reservation and accounting systems by gradually phasing out Passenger Name Records widely known as PNRs, Electronic Tickets (ETKTs) and Electronic Miscellaneous Documents (EMDs) and replacing them with modern “internet-era” Order records. ONE Order extends the capability of the Order Management System and complements IATA New Distribution Capability Standard (NDC). This gives airlines the ability to see the passenger’s full travel experience, making it easier to provide specific services and personalized experiences for travelers to purchase. Rajendran Vellapalath, Chief Executive Officer, TPConnects said “We are pleased to be one of the first travel technology provider to achieve IATA One Order recognition. Along with IATA NDC highest level certification the ONE Order designation solidifies the great progress made by TPConnects Offer and Order Management solution in helping airlines reduce complexity and become better retailers While the NDC based Offer Management Solution of TPConnects is maturing with different airlines customizing the product as per their business requirements, our main focus recently has been to encompass the implementation of retail industry standard Order Management …

Trafalgar has launched a brand new offer called Real Travel Deals – ‘Here Today, Gone Tomorrow’ up to 15 per cent in line with customer demand for better deals. Like the tagline suggests, these deals won’t last. This is over and above an additional five per cent VIT (Very Important Traveller) discount that is offered to travellers on select trips. Gavin Tollman, CEO, Trafalgar, says, “We are and will always be the AgentsFirst brand, and aligning our offering to the needs and demands of our agents and customers is our first priority. We know customers have been waiting to book their 2019 travels and are now craving enticing on the spot offers, so they can book and secure the trip of their dreams, and let the excitement of their upcoming travels begin.” Trafalgar has 302 trips that visit all seven continents around the world. With 58.3 per cent repeat booking rate for India,  a 4.7/5 independent satisfaction rating on Feefo, and a recently announced 100% Definite Departures on all Europe and Britain 2019 trips, guests planning to travel this Summer can take advantage of these savings.