Category Archives: Agents

Witnessing a significant increase in demand for experiential travel from the MiCE sector, Thomas Cook (India) has launched a portfolio of unique programmes that deliver engaging experiences across key global destinations. The clear shift from the traditional basic sight-seeing tour plus gala dinner to innovative experiential itineraries has created potential for the MiCE sector. In a strategic initiative to leverage this momentum, the company’s MiCE business has curated a series of cutting-edge MiCE programmes. Thomas Cook’s experiential MiCE portfolio incorporates fascinating long-haul destinations (Iceland, Canada, Japan, Korea, Norway, New Zealand, Australia and USA, etc) and short hauls (like Baku, Kiev, Morocco, Oman), coupled with distinctive elements including the adrenalin rush of Queenstown’s adventure experiences, snow-mobiling in Iceland, rafting in Norway, Formula 1 drives on the Yas Marina circuit, 360 degree helicopter tours, etc. Sightseeing trips are delivered with an exciting twist: via segway in Hungary or Spain, vintage cars in Prague, stretch-limousines in Dubai/Abu Dhabi or helicopters in Canada. Also incorporated are exclusive dining experiences- on a glacier in Canada or a private island in Australia; also decadent spa-wellness programmes and thermal baths in Iceland, Turkey, Jordan, New Zealand and more. Rajeev Kale, President & Country Head – Holidays, MICE, Visa & Passport Services, Thomas Cook (India) said, “The evolution in the MiCE sector is creating an expanded market of discerning corporates. With experiential travel high on their wishlist, our launch of engaging MiCE experiences was intended to capitalise and build on this significant and growing opportunity.”  

Adding one more feather to its cap, Linkin Reps recently bagged the media representation account for Turkish Culture and Tourism Office in India. Linkin Reps, through a well thought strategy and year-long media plan, will work towards highlighting Turkey as a destination for Indian travellers, ease of travelling, cultural affinity and present its lesser known destinations to the Indian audience. Promoting Turkey as a complete tourism destination will be the prime focus of Linkin Reps during its tenure. The decision was driven by Turkey’s growing outbound demand, witnessed in the steady rise in visitation from India, along with rises in the length of stay and spending power of Indian travellers. Speaking after the announcement, H Deniz Ersöz, Culture & Tourism Counsellor, Turkish Culture and Tourism Office in India, said, “Our partnership with Linkin Reps will further strengthen our outreach and presence in the country. We have a very interesting calendar planned out for the year which will be executed in partnership with Linkin. We are aiming at increasing the outbound travel from India to Turkey and invite more of Indian travellers to experience the rich culture and beauty of the Republic of Turkey.” Commenting on the appointment, Komal Seth, Director, Linkin Reps said, “With a series of campaigns planned, we will strengthen Turkey’s positioning as the first choice of destination for tourists from India.” Turkey is the home of unique nature, culture’ and deep-rooted historical and religious prestige, which reflects in its 18 world heritage sites, recognised by UNESCO.

SITE India recently held its members meet at the Ethiopian Culture Centre in New Delhi. During the event, Vikas Suda, SITE India Chapter Vice President- Events & Operations, gave a presentation on the advantages of being a SITE member and how the association works on enhancing the skills and educate the members. He said that the association helps in empowering the members and ultimately helps in excel in their business.

RARE India has launched a new entity called Peach, under which the team would work for new tourism products, fairs and events in terms of development, promotion and marketing. One of the first projects under Peach is Gobindgarh Fort, which was showcased in New Delhi for agents by erstwhile actress and developer behind the project, Deepa Sahi. She has produced and developed the shows at the fort. The fort belonged to Maharaja Ranjit Singh of Punjab and showcases stories of his valour through 7D experiences and virtual reality wonders. Shoba Mohan and Sowmya Vijaymohan, Founder-Partners, RARE India and Peach, said that Peach would be focusing on handholding and developing new projects, events, fairs and experiences in the tourism space. Peach would be different from RARE as it will not be delving into the representation of boutique, independently owned properties, which fall into the RARE aesthetics.

Mumbai-based Explora has associated itself with a luxury DMC based in Morocco called Experience Morocco. Led by Managing Partners, Karishma Kazi and Sunny Katara, Explora’s partnership will be effective September 1, 2018 which is when they will start promoting it in India. Speaking about the new development, Karishma Kazi, Managing Partner, Explora, says, “We believe that travel is all about the experience – We firmly believe that great travel experiences can be created from simple elements, and we feel privileged to have  Experience Morocco as our  client. Looking at the luxury segment growing year on year, it was about time to give India a DMC for Morocco which only caters to bespoke and beyond.” As a provider of curated travels across Morocco and with a diverse team of travel professionals who speak 16 languages, Explora has the experience and know-how to design memorable trips custom-built around the clients’ requirements. Sharing his insight on Indians as travellers, Sunny Katara, Managing Partner, Explora, adds, “Indian travellers have a unique set of motivations and needs, and understanding what drives this travel behaviour and providing a personalised experience is the key. It is really not that tough to understand an Indian luxury traveller. An important facet of the luxury travel experience is how well travellers feel that their needs and preferences are understood by their travel providers.”

Most of the people prefer destinations wedding near their hometown, according to a Travel Wedding Show Survey. 67 per cent of the people responded positively while 33 per cent preferred the destination wedding far from their home town. Destination wedding for the next five years will be the biggest thing. Weddings are big business, and everyone wants a piece of the pie. If as wedding planners we have to survive, we need to go out, to different cities and destinations and procure more business. Indian and international destination weddings will remain, the next business thing,” says Rajeev Jain, Founder and Director, Rashi Entertainment.

The total contribution of Travel & Tourism to employment was 41,622,500 jobs in 2017 (8.0 per cent of total employment), according to a report by World Travel and Tourism Council. This will rise by 3.1 per cent in 2018 to 42,898,000 jobs (8.1 per cent of total employment). By 2028, travel and tourism is expected to support 52,279,000 jobs (8.4 per cent of total employment), an increase of 2.0 per cent per annum over the period, the report said. Meanwhile, Travel & Tourism generated 26,148,000 jobs directly in 2017 (5.0 per cent of total employment) and this is forecast to grow by 2.8% in 2018 to 26,883,000. This includes employment by hotels, travel agents, airlines and other passenger transportation services (excluding commuter services). It also includes, for example, the activities of the restaurant and leisure industries directly supported by tourists.

Travstarz Global Group has recently opened its Mumbai Regional Office. Speaking on the development, Pankaj Nagpal, Managing Director, Travstarz Global Group, added, “We already had presence in Mumbai with our sales team, but we have now opened our full-fledged office with our Sales and Operations teams to be based in Mumbai to look after the entire West India region catering to Gujarat, Maharashtra and even MP. The team will be led by Hema Manghnani, Executive Director of the company based in Mumbai. The team size will be around 15 for the time being in addition to the sales teams at various locations”. Hema Manghnani said “We expect a huge surge in business from the Western Region after the opening of our office and with our operations team stationed here as local presence and local language speaking team makes a big difference.” Sucheta Nagpal, Director & CEO, Travstarz Global Group, also announced the start of their DMC operations for Egypt. “As per our expansion strategy, we have been making strategic investments overseas and Egypt is our latest addition for our DMC operations. With our own fleet of vehicles, we are contracted with all major hotels in Egypt.” He added    

TBO Group seems to have come out stronger as Standard Chartered Private Equity (SCPE) acquires Naspers’ stake in TBO Group. SCPE now owns 49 per cent of the stake vis-a-vis Nasper that earlier owned 52 per cent with both co-founders currently owning 51 per cent stake. Ankush Nijhawan, Co-founder, TBO Group, says, “SCPE now believes in our business model that we have built in the last twelve years; I think the game has just begun.” In his message to travel agents, he added, “TBO has been known for innovations in tech-segments. TBO Academy is something we just built and started, and we have also recently launched the Roamer App. We will also bring cruises online by the end of the year.” Talking about SCPE’s plans for TBO, Nijhawan said, “SCPE is very bullish on our business plans, they believe in us and they are going to be the growth drivers for us in the global market as well as India. They will back us in whatever we think is great for the company.”  

Pacific Travels has celebrated its 50 years of operations and opened a new office in New Delhi. “Having started with a conventional business model in 1968 in Kanpur, we are now carrying forward our legacy in New Delhi. We expanded our business with new products to offer. July 18 is an important day for us as we complete 50 years of operations” said, Nasir Zaidi, Managing Partner, Pacific Travels.