Category Archives: Agents

The Punjab and Haryana High Court has now made it mandatory for travel agents to mention their registration number in advertisements. Justice AB Chaudhari has directed Punjab, Haryana and the Union Territory of Chandigarh to make it compulsory for travel agents to mention their registration number in any advertisement that is being issued by them in any medium, whether it is in the electronic or print media. Even insertions in newspapers or pamphlets and posters on walls or vehicles will need to include this number. Justice Chaudhari also made it clear that the publisher would have to verify and retain the registration certificate’s copy. The move comes after incidences of travel agents, not registered or licensed by the government, taking money and sending people abroad were reported. Punjab, Haryana and Chandigarh have been asked to initiate action against TV channels and advertisers in case the advertisements broadcast are not by registered agents. The Judge has also directed these three states to issue immediate instructions to district magistrates to publish “a list of registered agents and to warn the citizens not to go to unauthorised agents”. The list is required to be made public on a regular basis.

Cox & Kings announced the ‘Free Fly to Kashmir’ packages in its bid to promote Kashmir Tourism under its domestic brand ‘Bharat Deko’. The initiative offers free airfare ex New Delhi, thus making the package attractive. ‘Glorious Kashmir’ and ‘Kashmir Delight’ are the two packages announced for travellers. The special packages were formally launched by Mahmood Ahmad Shah, Director Tourism, Kashmir along with Yusuf Poonawala, Senior Vice President, Cox & Kings at the Nigeen Club, Srinagar. The packages that span for a week have been specially crafted to offer a holistic Kashmir experience with price starting from only Rs 22,099. The Free Fly tours will allow the tourists to explore Kashmir’s nature, local culture and history. Sonamarg, Thajwas Glacier, Pahalgam, Awantisvamin and Betaab Valley are a few of the many sites that have been included in the tour. Poonawala said,”Kashmir is on the priority list of travellers. This offer will further boost tourist influx into Kashmir.” Bharat Deko has also created theme-based videos besides other marketing materials to promote the snow-state of India. The package offer is valid for travel period January 1 to June 30, 2018.

MakeMyTrip has launched its latest product for the domestic market—Made for You Holidays. Coinciding with the holiday season, these 150 holiday experiences offer a range of hand-picked escapades for discerning travellers. These domestic travel packages are specially targeted towards those who want to make the most of long weekends at destinations in Rajasthan, Himachal Pradesh, Kerala, Maharashtra, Karnataka and many more. Mohit Gupta, COO, MakeMyTrip, said, “At MakeMyTrip, we are bringing a balance between personalisation, authenticity and reach to offer holidays that will resonate with discerning travellers looking beyond cookie-cutter package tourism. By tracking social media, website analytics, search metrics, traveller reviews, etc., we want to align our product offerings to match what holiday goers are looking for.” Made for You Holidays is being rolled out under six themes for holiday-goers including Wildlife, Romantic, Friends & Family, Once in a lifetime, Rugged Getaways and Indulgence.

In a bid to rebuild confidence among its travel partners, U & I Holidays has revised its cancellation and refund policy. Not only is it offering a full refund or floating deposit on cancellation, it is also offering two nights free in Bali and one complimentary dinner in an Indian restaurant there for travel validity until March 31, 2018. Shyam Upadhyay, Director, U & I Holidays, says, “Over the past couple of months following the situation of Mt. Agung, we have noticed serious concerns for travel to Bali. I’m sure with these amendments, our clients will be in a position to comfort their customers and encourage them to travel to Bali. This is our way of thanking them for the continuous support and business for Bali and Malidives.” The ‘no cancellation fee’ policy is applicable in the case if volcano erupts or airport closes. Any payment/deposit will be given the option of full refund or to keep as floating deposit for future travel. In case of airport closure due to Mount Agung eruption, U & I Holidays also promises to accommodate the departing guest in a three-star hotel for two nights with one dinner at an Indian restaurant on complimentary basis for bookings closed through them.

Delhi-based destination management company, STHI Group hosted roadshows in Raipur and Nagpur on the 16th and 18th of December, respectively. Over 45 travel agents attended the event in each city. The Nagpur roadshow is STHI Group’s 12th roadshow this year. The company has been focusing on Tier-II and III cities as part of their marketing activities. STHI promoted airlines like Cathay Pacific, Qantas, Qatar Airways, Scoot Airlines and Singapore Airlines. The destinations showcased included Australia, Queensland, New South Wales, Adelaide, Malaysia, Singapore and Victoria. Hotels showcased included Banyan Tree Hotels, Shangri La, Centara Hotels and Sheraton. Speaking at the roadshow, Lalit Singh, COO of STHI Group, said, “We have been hosting such roadshows every month and this is our 12th roadshow in Nagpur. The response we are getting from the travel agents is phenomenal and it’s a good platform to connect with the agents. We have recently started promoting USA as a destination to our partners. This year we had a double digit growth as compared to last year and we continue to do such activities.”

Thomas Cook India has identified Odisha as a significant growth market for its foreign exchange business. To leverage this opportunity, the company has opened two forex counters at Biju Patnaik International Airport in Bhubaneswar, Thomas Cook India said in a BSE filing. Mahesh Iyer, CEO, Thomas Cook (India), says, “Bhubaneswar has been identified as a prime growth driver for Thomas Cook India and continues to deliver strong growth of 32 per cent YoY for our foreign exchange business.” The two new airport counters takes the company’s foreign exchange distribution in Odisha to a total of three outlets and further augments its network in east India to a total of 23 consumer access centres. Source: PTI

The Globus Family of Brands recently conducted an interactive session in the format of a talk show with one of its most senior tour directors, Benjamin Deham. Titled ‘Banter with Big Ben’, the event featured the Belgian tour director who spoke about what happens behind the scenes during every tour. Abira Sinha, Regional Sales Manager – India, Globus Family of Brands (India), explains, “We took this show to five cities across India that included Mumbai, New Delhi, Chennai, Bengaluru and Kolkata. The idea was to bring to the travel trade what their clients experience on these tours. Usually, when they come back they talk about the tour director who can make a significant difference to the quality of the tour. He can really make or break it.” While in India, Benjamin spoke about how the tour is organised, how he deals with different challenges while on tour and how he overcomes them to give the best experience to guests. Sinha adds, “One of the biggest factors for clients coming back is the tour director. Benjamin had all these funny stories and anecdotes that he narrated to our travel partners. It was learning with fun instead of just seeing a presentation.”

Travkart, a unit specialising in fixed departure and themed holidays becomes the preferred sales agent (PSA) for Madame Tussauds Delhi. The attraction opened to the public on December 1, 2017.  Visitors can buy tickets on Travkart website and mobile app. Manheer Singh Sethi, Co-founder, Travkart, said, “We are extremely delighted to be the first online travel platform to have been selected as a PSA by a globally renowned brand like Madame Tussauds for the launch of its first-ever attraction in the country. Our platform offers customers a wide selection of activities and must-see places they can book, and with the addition of Madame Tussauds, it’s a great chance for visitors as well locals to enjoy this new destination in the city.” The announcement marks a significant milestone for Travkart and allows the platform to build on its robust value proposition by expanding the ambit of its offerings.

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.