Category Archives: Agents

Prahlad Singh Patel, Minister of State (I/C), Tourism & Culture, has revealed that they have decided to launch a social platform along with the states where authentic and factually correct information is put up and it can then be shared with agencies, tourists, online aggregators, hotels, tour and travel companies. “It will be a platform by MOT, and the information available on this would mean that we have taken consent from states and have talked to the stakeholders of these states, and then we have allowed any traveller there. If everyone is not in agreement, then there are chances that they go to a state, airport, or destination and they must stay there, then it will be a dent in our trust. Hence to take such a precaution, we have thought about this platform, and it will be there for everyone,” he said.

Virtual products may soon become a new reality for the travel industry. Riyaz UC, Managing Director of Spiceland Holidays, has found an innovative way to survive in the COVID-19 struck industry. He has launched a seven-day virtual wellness package that is a blend of authentic Kerala ayurvedic concepts and yoga. The retreat has a panel of experts who will guide people on various things such as meditation, yoga asanas, and the right diet with live cooking demos. Riyaz explains, “People around the world are mentally and emotionally depressed right now. They want to get rejuvenated but there is no way they can travel to Kerala or any of the wellness destinations. I have created a seven-day wellness retreat that has a panel of experts who will guide people on various things such as meditation, yoga asanas, and the right diet with live cooking demos. It has guaranteed results.” Riyaz adds that this is also an opportunity for agents to earn some commission. “This product is for the global market. We are selling this package at Rs 10,000 or USD 150 and travel agents can earn a commission of up to USD 40 per package. This is a new source for earning revenue for them,” he says. Spiceland Holidays is a Kerala-based destination management company and one of the largest in South India and Sri Lanka.

A NITI Aayog working group under the chairmanship of Amitabh Kant has presented an action plan for heritage management of monuments in the country. The group in its report pitched for adopting revenue generation model through PPP schemes and voiced its views that the central and state governments should leverage India’s massive network of heritage sites as a tool for development and employment generation by providing improved services to domestic and international tourists. It also said that each ASI heritage site should be a profit centre by generating more revenues from ticketing, souvenir shops, food and beverage outlets. The report also suggested that International Heritage Circuits should be developed jointly with other countries, especially where shared heritage is evident, such as the Buddhist circuit and Hinduism circuit with South Asian and Southeast Asian countries. Among other recommendations, the working group suggested restructuring of ASI, creating a National Archaeological Database, defining bye-laws for prohibited and regulated areas around monuments, support to state governments and other organisations such as temple trusts to boost the tourism sector.

A day after Yatra Online announced to terminate the merger agreement,  Ebix Inc, who was supposed to acquire the online travel company has issued a statement where it has expressed its strong disagreement with the allegations set forth by Yatra. Ebix intends to enforce all of its rights under the Merger agreement and is currently considering all options, including a countersuit against Yatra, on account of multiple breaches of the merger agreement. In the statement, Ebix said, “On May 14, 2020, Yatra Online, Inc., a Cayman Islands exempted company limited by shares (“Yatra”), entered into an agreement (the “Fourth Extension Agreement”) with Ebix, Inc. (“Ebix”) extending the outside date of the Merger Agreement (the “Merger Agreement”), dated July 16, 2019, by and between Yatra, Ebix and EbixCash Travels Inc., a direct, wholly-owned subsidiary of Ebix (“Merger Sub”) to June 4, 2020 (the “Outside Date”). The Merger Agreement contained certain termination rights for Ebix and Yatra, including, among others, the right of either party to terminate the Merger Agreement if the Merger has not been consummated on or prior to the Outside Date. The Outside Date was extended to June 4, 2020, in order to provide the parties with time to determine whether they could reach mutual agreement on an amendment of certain terms of the Merger Agreement. After the expiration of the Outside Date and the failure of the two parties to agree on the terms of an amended Merger Agreement by the Outside Date, Yatra terminated the Merger Agreement on June 5, 2020, and filed suit against Ebix in the Delaware Court of Chancery for breach of contract. Ebix worked diligently to fulfil its obligations under the Merger Agreement …

Online travel company Yatra has announced that it has provided notice of termination of its pending merger agreement with Ebix, Inc. and sought substantial damages from the latter over “breaches of representations, warranties and covenants in the merger agreement and an ancillary extension agreement”. Separately, starting April 2020, Yatra had already implemented cost reduction initiatives, resulting in 58% fixed cost savings in May 2020 vs March 2020, and 70% savings as compared to March 2019.

Delhi State Legal Services Authority (DSLSA) collaborates with Yatra.com, one of India’s leading online travel agency for Vidhik Sewa App, a COVID-19 helpline, to help anyone who needs assistance and requests for basic services. This app is an initiative of the Delhi State Legal Services Authority to provide, help and aid to individuals in the city. Apart from Legal Services, the app covers crucial services such as food, shelter, clothes, medicines, sanitary napkins, and others. Yatra.com supported this initiative of Delhi State Legal Services Authority in pursuance of its Corporate Social Responsibility to ensure that in these unprecedented times, help reaches to those in need, in all possible ways. Commenting on this initiative Manish Amin, Co-Founder & Chief Information and Technology Officer, Yatra.com, said, “At this crucial time when COVID-19 poses a national challenge, we have collaborated with Delhi State Legal Services Authority (DSLSA) to develop Vidhik Sewa App. This app act as a platform to provide individuals in Delhi with crucial services like food, shelter, medicines and more during unprecedented times like these. Backed by our strong technologically innovative solutions, we aim to provide a seamless experience to the users of the app.” Speaking on the association, Kanwaljeet Arora, Member Secretary, Delhi State Legal Services Authority (DSLSA), said, “In the prevalent situation, the initiative to launch the app will help ensure that justice is not delayed and access to judicial service is unrestricted. Additionally, we will extend essential services through the app. This association with Yatra.com for the app will help in extending our services to those in need and unable to avail them physically due to restricted movement.” The app is available in Hindi and English on the …

After receiving overwhelming response in the first three editions of its digital conclave, TravTalk is back with its Digital Conclave 4.0, which is scheduled to take place on 9th June where attendees can learn about reducing fear and establishing confidence in the tourism landscape again. The theme of the conclave is based on re-engineering tourism and will feature speakers such as Meenakshi Sharma, DG, Tourism, Government of India, Arjun Sharma, Chairman, Select Group and other during the course of three sessions starting at 10 am. The first session is titled as ‘Building and Enabling Tourism: What will the Restart Look like? The second session is based on ‘Revenge Tourism- When do we Restart’, while the third one is named as ‘PPP based, India Tourism Board? A practical vision for the future’. These sessions include eminent speakers such as EM Najeeb, Kamal Hingorani, Guldeep Singh Sahni, Riaz Munshi, Sunil VA and Arif Patel.

EbixCash Travel & Holidays, earlier known as Mercury Travels has launched a brief survey to gain the views of its business associates, which can help the company design future travel offerings post COVID-19 pandemic. In a statement, the company said, “While the world continues to embark this journey through the Global crisis and discover new ways to combat the situation, we would like to assure you that safety and well-being of our customers remain to be our topmost priority while reinforcing the existing protocols for addressing public health issues”. The survey is open now and can be accessed at www.surveymonkey.com/r/EbixCash    

According to a joint survey report by Thomas Cook India and SOTC Travel, consumers have expressed an interest in a personal touch to their travel booking experience, with 58% opting to purchase holidays through retail outlets or home service (38% retail and 20% home visits). This was followed by 40% opting for online channels (website/App) and 12% stating preference for video chat. Over 2500 consumers across India participated in the survey.

CovidSMART is DDP Group’s latest initiative, a programme designed by WHO-certified professionals and ISO-trained individuals to promote safe travel and help build in tour operators & travel agents the confidence to succeed in this industry, once again. To access the programme, you can log on to www.covidElearn.com. Key learnings would include protecting your business during COVID-19, dealing with emergencies and anxiety related to the pandemic and its impact, and the importance of a PPE kit. SanJeet, Director, DDP Group, says, “All our initiatives during this pandemic have been our way of looking after our tourism industry and this is another such programme. Our aim is that every travel professional should accept this fast-paced change, be prepared and be ready to drive tourism in the future. By introducing CovidSMART, we hope to put India in the driver’s seat. Now, it is up to the travel industry to encash this opportunity. I encourage the industry to convey to their partners as well as the Indian travellers that they will now be dealing with a COVID-19 certified specialist, who understands and will guide them through this jungle.”