Category Archives: Agents

With an objective to combat criminal activities, Travelport announced the launch of an online PCI DSS (Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard) compliance referral service to help its customers’ businesses achieve PCI DSS certification. As from March 2018, any IATA agent that accepts card transactions against its own merchant agreement or issues Billing and Settlement Plan (BSP) card transactions is required to provide proof of PCI DSS compliance to IATA. Travelport chose to partner with SecurityMetrics, a leading provider in data security and compliance for organisations worldwide. The PCI DSS certification program provides customers with an online wizard tool to guide agents through the self-assessment questionnaire process. The multi-language tool enables Travelport’s agency customers worldwide to achieve PCI DSS compliance, a requirement by the card industry for every business that touches card payments. Alexandra Fitzpatrick, VP, Travelport Global Payment Solutions, commented, “Combining consumer protection with customer-driven solutions is the key to our goals as it creates frictionless payment processes and better ways of working.” David Meyers, Senior Director Business Development, SecurityMetrics added, “We are confident that Travelport’s customers will be pleased with the results of our PCI program and our team will make sure that they receive the best possible experience on their compliance journey”.

Ezeego1.com has opened a new franchise store at Kalbadevi Road in Mumbai to cater to the growing travel demands in South Mumbai. Managed by Ravi Mahatani, the outlet will provide travel services from leading travel suppliers from India and overseas. Services like flight tickets, hotels, packages, rail and cruise holidays are provided on a single platform from a diverse mix of travel suppliers. Neelu Singh, CEO and Director, Ezeego1, said, “Distribution is the key to success in the growing travel market and the opening of our new franchise will help us gain a foothold in this market. Our offerings are curated from a slew of travel aggregators and we enable and distribute it through our platform.” Ezeego1 will provide the franchisee with an active marketing, technical and store development support. The marketing activity will include print and radio advertising, attractive and preferential commercials. Store development support will include store designing to reinforce the brand’s look and feel. Training and technical support will be provided to all franchisee staff to effectively address the changing technology and enhance customer interface.

Thomas Cook (India) has obtained Board approval to divest a 5.42 per cent stake in its subsidiary Quess Corp, to bring its shareholding to 51.56 per cent, thereby proposing to raise funds of over Rs 600 cr. through an Offer for Sale (OFS) process as prescribed by SEBI. This is in keeping with SEBI regulations that require promoters to bring down their stake to 75 per cent and post dilution, the promoter shareholding in Quess Corp (that of Thomas Cook India and Ajit Isaac, CMD & CEO, Quess Corp.) would be 75.38 per cent. Fairfax Financial Holdings, through the Thomas Cook India Group, is committed to maintaining a controlling stake in Quess Corp. Madhavan Menon, Chairman & Managing Director, Thomas Cook India Group, said, “At the Thomas Cook India Group we are committed to holding a controlling stake in our subsidiary Quess Corp. Our proposed dilution of a portion of our stake in Quess Corp is hence intended to comply with SEBI regulations. Our aim is to retire our long term debt and improve profitability; simultaneously increase our cash reserves, enabling us to effectively leverage opportune investments as and when they arise.” The initiative is also aimed at retiring Thomas Cook India’s long term debt, thus bringing down the company’s financial costs and improving profitability and liquidity at both a standalone and group level.  

VisitBritain recently conducted an educational trip for 10 Indian travel agents in partnership with ACP Rail to promote the BritRail pass to travel around Britain by train. The trip was part of a B2B campaign which the national tourism organisation of Great Britain has launched with ACP Rail in India. Agents started their trip in Edinburgh, before travelling north for a two-day tour of the Scottish Highlands. They further headed across the border into Northern England, finishing their trip in the medieval town of York. Rail travel within UK is one of the most important part of the strategy to promote destinations beyond London amongst Indians. All hosted agents are considering sign-ups with ACP Rail and will soon begin installing their software to enable sale of UK rail passes along with sector tickets to promote rail itineraries and thus, give a fresh approach towards the UK holiday experience. With over 2,500 train stations in Britain, visitors have the chance to discover both cities and countryside throughout England, Scotland and Wales.

Cox & Kings has opened its first Holiday Club store in Mumbai to cater to the increasing demand for holiday products. The centre, located at Dadar, is the fourth Holiday Club store in India with the other three in New Delhi. The stores aim to attract a diverse set of customers through innovative offers and customised solutions, and offer a range of domestic and international holiday packages. In keeping with recent travel trends, the company has forayed into niche segments such as Enable Travel for the physically challenged, Trip 360 for adventure enthusiasts and Getaway Goddess for the women-only travel segment. Karan Anand, Head, Relationships, Cox & Kings said, “Central Mumbai is now the hub of retail activity and our Holiday Club store is perfectly positioned to engage with customers on a one-on-one basis, as they seek personal engagement in making sure they have a memorable holiday.” The Holiday Club stores will complement the existing points of sales that Cox & Kings has in Mumbai.  

Jumeirah Hotels & Resorts organised a two city roadshow in Mumbai and Delhi to strengthen the brand’s ties with the Indian travel trade fraternity. The roadshow was part of Jumeirah’s newly enhanced focus on India as a source market for its hotels in the UAE, Europe and the Maldives. Speaking at the Mumbai roadshow, Linda Lewis, the Vice President for Global Sales Middle East and Asia Pacific, Jumeirah Group, said, “The India market has witnessed a considerable rise in outbound luxury travel in recent years. Given that this demographic seek superior travel and stay experiences; our current portfolio includes hotels and resorts within a number of favoured locations; and we are one of the world’s most awarded luxury hotel brands, Jumeirah is well placed to fulfill the requirements of the Indian luxury traveller, including families, couples, the MICE industry and those seeking destination weddings and honeymoons.” Jumeirah recently signed a direct connectivity partnership with Make My Trip India, providing a easy booking channel for Indian consumers who wish to book Jumeirah hotels around the world. Lewis added, “India is a key source market into the UAE and into a number of our other destinations including the UK and Maldives. We are focusing on expanding and consolidating our ties with the FITs and the luxury travel segment to reach out to a larger audience and gain a higher market share. MMT’s reach and presence in India goes above and beyond Tier-1 states. With this in mind, our visibility on this platform will help to increase brand awareness and gain new consumers.” Jumeirah Group has 11 hotels in the UAE and a presence across Europe, Middle East and Asia. While the Burj Al …

SOTC Travel strengthened its presence in New Delhi with the inauguration of its first ever signature store in North Delhi at Netaji Subhash Place, D Mall. This new expansion augments SOTC’s distribution and reach in New Delhi. North Delhi, a potential market for SOTC which has been growing consistently year on year has seen remarkable progress with doubled sales numbers over the last 3 years. In an attempt to reach the optimum potential of this market and strive to provide the best pre & post tour experience to customers, SOTC Travel has come up with this unique concept of the first Signature store in the National Capital. Daniel D’souza, Head Sales, India and NRI Markets, SOTC Travel said, “We believe customer experience is the key to make our business successful in this ever competitive and growing tour operators industry. Along with increasing our distribution presence in almost all parts of Delhi/NCR, It is extremely important for us to ensure that we keep delivering up to the maximum potential of these markets and this requires us to enhance and deliver enriching holiday experiences to our customers. The Signature store is one of our efforts to reinvent the buying experience for our customers at our franchise outlets. Its strategic location offers convenience and accessibility to customers providing excellent branding and visibility. Our dedicated sales resources ensure we provide superior service to our customers meeting their every expectation.”

Uniglobe Travel and Goomo have entered into a strategic partnership that marks a first-of-its-kind alliance between a traditional travel agent network and an online platform. The partnership will involve deeper collaboration between the Uniglobe franchisees, whereby customers on the Gooomo platform will be able to find a trusted agent and discuss their off-line booking requirements with them. The partnership will serve as an ideal foundation for Uniglobe and Goomo to further expand their omni-channel presence in the booming South Asian travel market and add more diversity to Goomo’s suite of travel products, which can be availed either online or through a specialist agent. Uniglobe Travel South Asia currently has over 60 agency locations across India, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka with an annual sales volume of over Rs 3,500 crore. Varun Gupta, CEO, Goomo, says, “Clients have the right to choose the channel they’re most comfortable with while booking their travel. That’s precisely what our partnership with UNIGLOBE promises – a one-stop shop for our clients to access the best online and offline travel deals and products, so they don’t have to bother looking elsewhere.” Raja Natesan, CEO, Uniglobe Travel (South Asia), adds, “Our association with a dynamic platform like Goomo presents a unique opportunity to target both offline and online consumers through the convenience of an omni-channel platform and the assurance of a knowledgeable travel expert. We are excited about our partnership and the value we could unlock by extending our superior travel management services, that offer unparalleled access to professional advice for extensive trip planning, to Goomo’s online client network.” Not just the end-consumer, but even the wide network of Uniglobe Travel agencies across South Asia, stand to benefit …

FCM Travel Solutions, the Indian subsidiary of Flight Centre Travel Group (FCTG), Australia, under its retail leisure arm ‘Flight Shop’ has launched Group Inclusive Tours (GITs) in the country. Foraying into the segment, Flight Shop has introduced new exclusive itineraries to Europe specially designed for large group travellers. The service will also offer customers the flexibility to choose dates and destinations in its group tours. Shravan Gupta, Executive Director, Leisure Businesses, FCM Travel Solutions, Indian subsidiary of FCTG, Australia said, “GITs are the biggest segment in the organised travel sector and are growing at 10-12 per cent every year. Travelling in a group costs lesser and is around 20-30 per cent cheaper than travelling solo to any destination. At Flight Shop, we believe that we have the required land and cruise holidays’ expertise to organise unbeatable group tour experiences for Indian travellers. While we want to experiment with the flexible tour concept, which is a pioneering concept in India, our GITs will have fixed departure dates and conventional packages too.” Offering travellers the opportunity to leverage and make the most of the services, Flight Shop has announced ‘Europe on Sale’ Campaign as an introductory offering to their customers. Flight Shop has curated over 200 Europe Group Tour itineraries with departures beginning from April 2018. Flight Shop specialists can also provide individual customization of itineraries for travelers requiring extensions on a trip, etc. Groups are also eligible for discounted deals on ‘Europe on Sale’ itineraries until December 10, 2017. Each tour group will include – Return Economy Airfare with Taxes, Visas, Insurance, Accommodation in Standard Hotels, Meals & Sightseeing as per Itinerary, Ground Transportation in Luxury Coaches and an Independent Tour …

Yatra Online has been shortlisted for the adoption of four monuments including Qutub Minar (Delhi), Ajanta Caves (Maharashtra), Hampi (Karnataka) and Leh Palace (Jammu & Kashmir), under ‘Adopt a Heritage Scheme’ of Ministry of Tourism, Govt. of India. The ‘Letter of Intent’ has been given to select companies, including Yatra, for adopting certain monuments under the scheme at the closing ceremony of ‘Paryatan Parv’ held in New Delhi recently. As a part of the ‘Adopt a Heritage Scheme’, Yatra along with the other shortlisted companies will be called ‘Monument Mitras’ or ‘Monument friends’ as they will work towards managing the monuments/heritage sites across India in a planned and phased manner. The objective of this initiative is to increase the attractiveness of the sites, enhance the visiting experience, improve accessibility and engage with the community in addition to providing and managing basic and advanced amenities at these sites. Commenting on the same, Dhruv Shringi, CEO Yatra.com, “At Yatra, we want to create and conserve an India that is enjoyed by all visitors whether Indians, foreigners, residents or tourists, for today and future generations. By being a part of this endeavour to promote heritage and conserve India’s historical legacy, we are committed to give back to the society by putting our community at the very core of our business. Yatra was selected by Inter-Ministerial Oversight and Vision Committee of Ministry after detailed scrutiny of 57 responses ranging from travel industry, hospitality industry and banking industry for adopting monuments.”