Category Archives: Agents

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.

Weizmann Forex has announced that it has been awarded licenses to operate foreign exchange counters across Hyderabad, Goa, Cochin, Chandigarh and Mumbai airports. Out of these five cities, the company has received exclusive rights for Goa and Hyderabad airports for six and five counters, respectively. In these five cities the company has received mandates for three years at three and five years at two airports. With these additions, Weizmann Forex now operates 18 airport forex counters across the country. Commenting on the development, B Karthikeyan, Managing Director, Weizmann Forex Limited said, “As part of our strategy, we are committed to serving our customers through multiple touch points in an omni-channel distribution strategy that covers its digital website, substantial branch network and a renewed focus on airports. We have increased our presence across various Indian airports which will significantly enhance our brand visibility while enabling us to serve more walk-in customers. Going beyond business objectives, we remain conscious about our customers’ need for convenient access, the need of our airport partners to provide world-class ambience and experience and also our own objective as a responsible company to protect the environment for ourselves and for our future generations. We are committed to staying in the path of relevance of our customers by providing new, innovative and value-added offerings, helping us strengthen our position as a leading player in the forex and remittances space.”  

In a move to capitalise on the significant and growing student travel segment, Thomas Cook (India) has launched ‘Study Buddy’ – a student-focussed foreign exchange promotion available across Thomas Cook India’s omni-channel network, including over 150 foreign exchange outlets pan India, and extends over a three-month period ending September 30, 2018. Deepesh Varma, Senior Vice President, Foreign Exchange – Sales & Relationship Management, Thomas Cook (India)  said, “The student travel market in India is a significant opportunity and at Thomas Cook India we have already witnessed impressive growth of 20-25 per cent YoY. Hence in an initiative to inspire demand and maximize transactions, we conceptualized ‘Study Buddy’, timed to coincide with the student travel season. ‘Study Buddy’s’ attractive offers and assured gifts are intended to delight the value seeking student community. Being a specialist in Foreign Exchange, our core product-service offering includes Remittance of university/tuition fees, forex prepaid cards and currency notes backed with years of experience in guiding students and parents on changing forex regulations and the safest way in carrying foreign exchange abroad.”Against the backdrop of a steady increase in Indian students opting to study abroad for graduate and post graduate studies, Thomas Cook India has registered a 20-25 per cent YoY growth in its foreign exchange student business over the last three to four years. Given the strong growth potential and in a focussed initiative to catalyse demand and expand its student market-share, Thomas Cook India has launched a three-month strategic Study Buddy promotion- timed strategically to target the critical booking window for student travel.

Divine Holiday Management and Divine Line Production have recently announced their presence in Bali which will cater operations for tourism, MICE, events, destination weddings and film shoots not only in Bali but also for all cities in Indonesia. The companies already have their presence in Mauritius, India, Vietnam, Cambodia, Myanmar and the Philippines. Terence Cardoz owner of both companies said that Indonesia is an endless destination to explore as the archipelago has the world’s richest natural resources covering more than 17.000 islands, beautiful white sandy beaches to the panoramic rings of volcano stretched all along Sunderland with its deep forest that offered some of the world’s most amazing wildlife, the richest deep-root cultures that covered by more than 300 ethnic groups and tribes with huge variant of culinary, clothing, art and dances, daily life and charm peoples with their genuine hospitality. Those fact on Indonesia offers a very wide range of traveling style to the country, from Romantic & Honeymoon, Sports & Adventure, Science and Research, Family Leisure, Cultural & Spiritual Explorations, Photography and Videography from small to wide productions scale, MICE and Groups. For Film shoots , music videos  we would like to encourage film makers from India and International film industry to shoot in the exotic locations of Bali, Java and around other beautiful locations in Indonesia.    

Thomas Cook (India) has said that its domestic business is growing at a robust pace of 35-40 per cent, and its share in the total revenue is expected to rise in the next few years. The outbound business currently contributes 80 per cent and is growing at 20-25 per cent, while domestic travel generates the rest, but over the next two-three years, the revenue ratio is expected to change, Romil Pant, Vice President, Thomas Cook (India) said. “I think the share of domestic business is ideally expected to move up to 30 per cent from 20 per cent now in the next two to three years, looking at the growth rate,” he said. Pant was in Kolkata to promote special regional Bengali tours in the city during the Durga Puja festivities. In these tours, managers will use the local dialect, and more such tours in other languages are also planned, such as Assamese, Pant said. Deepening reach is another step to maintain growth momentum, he said, adding, “In the next two to three quarters, the total number of exclusive outlets will touch 300. The major focus would be to expand in Tier-II and tier-III cities,” he said. Pant said about 60-70 per cent of the tours are in the packaged tour segment, while the rest are customised. Customised leisure travel has got traction in recent years and is growing at 30-40 per cent. Source: PTI  

BLS International has entered into a contract with Ministry of Foreign Affairs Italy and commenced operation of processing Italy visa applications in Singapore. The centre will also extend premium services such as Premium Lounge, photocopy, courier, SMS alert and photo booth for the convenience of applicants. Shikhar Aggarwal, Joint Managing Director, BLS International said, “The new Joint VAC for Ministry of Foreign Affairs Italy in Singapore, is equipped with state-of-the-art technology to strengthen the visa processing services for citizens. Looking at the growing trend of emerging popularity of Schengen areas as a new tourist destination, the centre will cater to the ever-increasing volumes of visa applications for Italy and Spain – the two most preferred destinations for Schengen entry.” The application centre is centrally located and has well-trained staff to handle applicants’ queries while the website is user-friendly and informative. The centre is equipped with state-of-the-art facilities and has the capability to service other Schengen countries.  

Logitravel Group of Spain and Thailand’s CBS Travel Asia have agreed for a joint venture that will give the European group a foothold in Southeast Asia. Logitravel has 12 offices worldwide and its first expansion in Asia will establish its 13th base to sell both inbound and outbound travel between Asia and Europe. In the long term, the company plans expansion to other major markets in Asia. The partnership will also help to build and grow the network opf two companies to new levels of success. The Thailand-based DMC will gain access to foreign markets covered by the Spanish Group. It will also help in offering added value for its B2B customers through the group’s technology and global distribution network. CBS Travel Asia will operate as the regional partner of Smyrooms, the Logitravel Group bed bank.  The joint venture will involve the integration of CBS Travel Asia’s full travel content for distribution through the group’s XML platform to more than 1,000 online travel agents, tour operators and B2B partners. Logitravel Group is making a firm commitment to expand its business using Thailand as a regional hub, to extend its footprint to other Asian countries by acquiring a stake in CBS Travel Asia, Financial details were not disclosed, but it is understood that joint venture talks first commenced in early 2017.

Nijhawan Group has been appointed as the Advisor for tourism promotion of Embassy of Uzbekistan in India. Farhod C Arziev, Ambassador of the Republic of Uzbekistan to India, said that they would be working closely with the Nijhawan Group to make Indian travellers aware of the tourism possibilities in Uzbekistan. Ankush Nijhawan, Managing Director, Nijhawan Group, said that their first agenda will be to make the travel trade in India meet and start collaborating with the DMCs in Uzbekistan, as awareness about the destination is foremost. Arziev said that they have already simplified the visa procedure to boost the incoming traffic to Uzbekistan from India. It will also offer e-visa to Indians as well as a five-day visa-free transit in Uzbekistan from July 15, 2018.

Indian business travellers feel safer in ride-sharing services than in taxis, according to research commissioned by Carlson Wagonlit Travel. More than a half (56%) of the Indian respondents surveyed expressed safety concerns about using taxis when traveling for business, compared with 47% for ride-sharing services. Business travellers in several other newly industrialised countries like Mexico and Brazil also responded similarly. “In cities across the globe, using ride-sharing services has become a way of life,” said Bindu Bhatia, Managing Director – Asia Pacific, Carlson Wagonlit Travel. “The familiar and convenient experience they provide has made them a preferred mode of transport for many business travellers. Still, one continues to hear about safety incidents surrounding ride-sharing services around the world, which might explain in part why some travellers are worried about using them.” Looking at ride-sharing, 56% of Asia Pacific women feel somewhat nervous versus 38% of men. For taxis, that is 48% and 35% respectively. Even though ride-sharing is associated with the younger generation, the findings show that these travellers are more concerned about personal safety. Millennials, in all regions, are the most worried, followed by gen X travelers and baby boomers. In Asia Pacific, half of the millennial travelers are very/somewhat concerned when using a rideshare service, followed by 44% of gen X and 35% of boomers. In the Americas, the percentages are 47% for millennials, 42% for gen X and 29% for boomers.