Tag Archives: CEO

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 …

SriLankan Airlines extended its route network with the launch of daily non-stop services to Melbourne on October 29, 2017. Ajith Dias, Chairman of Sri Lanka’s national carrier, said: “We at SriLankan Airlines are delighted to launch this new service, which we have no doubt would be of great convenience to all segments of travelers, including the large number of Sri Lankans domiciled in Australia, the many Australians who love to travel overseas and people throughout Asia who visit Down Under.” Sri Lankan expatriates and students form a large and significant community in Australia, and frequently travel back to their native land. Many of them reside in Melbourne, and other cities in the state of Victoria and neighbouring New South Wales, with smaller numbers throughout the rest of Australia and New Zealand. Captain Suren Ratwatte, CEO of SriLankan Airlines, said: “We have been extending our route network in a systematic manner throughout Asia – from the Middle East to the Far East – and can now provide Australian travelers excellent options in connectivity, with one-stop journeys to the most popular destinations via Colombo.” A member of the prestigious oneworld global airline alliance, SriLankan offers convenient connections to 14 cities throughout India, nine in the Middle East and other destinations such as Male and Gan Island in the Maldives, and Seychelles. SriLankan also operates one-stop twice-daily services between Sri Lanka and Australia with its codeshare partners Qantas and Malaysia Airlines. Passengers will enjoy the comforts of the airline’s modern Airbus A330 aircraft between Melbourne and Colombo, with flatbeds in Business Class, sophisticated in-flight entertainment and world class service provided by SriLankan’s award winning cabin crew.

GMR Hyderabad International Airport Ltd. (GHIAL), Malaysia Airports Holdings Berhad (MAHB) and Malaysia Tourism Promotion Board (MTPB) signed an MoA with a strategic vision to promote tourism from the catchment area of Rajiv Gandhi International Airport, Hyderabad to Malaysia. This tri-partite MoA involves collaborative market research, strategy development, promotional campaigns and marketing efforts with an aim to enhance the visibility of ‘Destination Malaysia’ in Hyderabad. The trend shows that over 100,000 passengers travel between Hyderabad and Malaysia every year; and this traffic has grown by 28 per cent CAGR in the last five years. SGK Kishore, CEO, GHIAL, said, “We are happy to sign this first of its kind MoA between airport operators – GHIAL and MAHB and Malaysia Tourism. This is a strategic initiative, which we have taken up to enhance the outbound tourism from our catchment region to key international destinations to enhance RGIA’s International connectivity and traffic growth.” Datuk Mohd Badlisham Ghazali, Managing Director, MAHB, said, “We are delighted to partner MTPB and GHIAL in this unique endeavour. This mutually beneficial three-way partnership will enhance the visibility of Malaysia’s tourism attractions in Hyderabad and surrounding areas.”  

Travel insurance provider TrawellTag Cover-More planned an accelerated growth strategy with the recent acquisition of Cover-More Group by Swiss-based Zurich Insurance Group. Dev Karvat, CEO, TrawellTag Cover-More said, “Zurich Insurance Group is one of the top three insurers in the world. With this development, we will benefit from their infrastructure and technology. Our Customer Care facility has now merged with Zurich’s World Travel Protection. We will not only manage claims now but also have a fully in-house support system to take care of customers anywhere in the world.” “The mother brand will continue as is and while the front-end will not change for its travel partners in India, the back-end will in terms of better facilities and infrastructure,” Karvat adds. He also revealed that TrawellTag Cover-More planned to tie up with another airline in the next few months. It currently works with GoAir to offer travel insurance to its passengers.

Banking on its agricultural heritage, Punjab tourism department has authorised 60-plus properties for the purpose of farm stays. They signed an MoU with MakeMyTrip so all these farm stays and B&B are available online. Punjab has been so far one of India’s best-kept tourism secrets, believes Shivdular Singh Dhillon, Special Secretary and Director, Department of Tourism, Cultural Affairs, Archeology, Museums & Archives, Punjab and CEO, Punjab Heritage & Tourism Promotion Board. In order to tap experiential travellers who visit Amritsar, the tourism board is promoting farm tourism. “We have come up with farm stays in the outskirts. Agriculture has been Punjab’s backbone so what better place than here to create this experience. The department has so far authorised 60-plus properties for farm stays. For this, we have just signed an MoU in August 2017 with MakeMyTrip so all these farm stays and B&B are online for everyone to book. Travellers don’t look at Punjab as a tourist destination and this perception will change now,” Dhillon adds.

The 40th edition of PATA Travel Mart 2017 (PTM 2017) kicked off with ‘Travolution Forum Asia: Redefining Travel Experience’ at The Parisian Macao. Dr. Mario Hardy, CEO, PATA, moderated a session on ‘The Importance of Reviews and Personalised Marketing’ at PTM 2017. The Mart will be held in Macao SAR from September 13-15 and is being hosted by the Macao Government Tourism Office (MGTO). PTM mobilises a relevant contingent of travel trade stakeholders from the Asia Pacific region and around the world and provides a first-hand update about the significant developments in Macao. Last PTM in Macao was held in 2010. Langkawi is the venue for PATA Travel Mart 2018 (PTM 2018) with this signature Pacific Asia Travel Association (PATA) event being hosted by Tourism Malaysia and Langkawi Development Authority.

VFS Global has completed the acquisition of visa service provider TT Services (TTS). The transaction enables VFS Global to leverage on core competences and brands and to further enhance operating performance. UK-based TTS is a provider of integrated visa processing solutions with global presence and a comprehensive portfolio of services. The company operates 51 application centres in more than 35 countries and has 216 employees and offers a range of visa services for its client governments, partners and applicants. Zubin Karkaria, CEO of VFS Global Group, says, “TT Services has, like VFS Global, extended industry experience of more than 15 years and is a trusted service delivery partner for its clients. I see a strong fit by TTS joining VFS Global. This will enable us to further enhance and extend our services towards our client governments and visa applicants.” The change of control will have no bearing on the business operations of the parties and act as a catalyst to improved services and enhanced client and customer satisfaction.

Carlson Wagonlit Travel, the global travel management company, has announced Bindu Bhatia as its the new Managing Director, Asia Pacific, effective September 1. Bhatia succeeds Kai Chan, who will be leaving the company on August 31 after making significant contributions during her five-year tenure. “Asia Pacific is the world’s fastest-growing market for corporate travel – there are huge opportunities here,” said Kurt Ekert, CEO, Carlson Wagonlit Travel. “Bindu is perfect for her new role: with her proven entrepreneurial skills, commercial savvy, and deep understanding of the global travel market, she will hit the ground running.” Bindu Bhatia has been with the company for more than 20 years in a number of key roles, most recently serving as Senior Vice President, Global Program Management, where she has looked after CWT’s biggest global clients. Bindu has extensive leadership experience in strategic client management, operations, people management, and business development. Reporting to Kelly Kuhn, Chief Customer Officer, she will soon will be relocating to CWT’s Asia Pacific headquarters in Singapore, where she will have responsibility for approximately 3,000 people across nine countries. Ann Marie Stone will be taking over Bindu’s current role, also effective 1 September, reporting to Cathy Voss, Executive Vice President, Global Program Solutions. Ann Marie has been with the company since 2000, most recently serving as Vice President, Global Program Management.

AirAsia has introduced two new routes between India and Thailand with a Bangkok-Jaipur connection and a Bangkok-Tiruchirappalli connection respectively. While both routes will ply four times a week, the former will run on Tuesday, Wednesday, Friday and Sunday while the latter will run every Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday starting September 28, 2017.  Aiming to attract Indian shoppers to Thailand, the new routes come with promotional fares available. Tassapon Bijleveld, CEO of Thai AirAsia said that AirAsia plans to continually penetrate the Indian market in the latter half of 2017 as it is a major market with great growth potential.  Indian travellers rank sixth among the most frequent visitors to Thailand while the Kingdom responds to all kinds of lifestyles from shoppers and night-time entertainment seekers to travellers looking for hospitality and wellness retreat.  The airline is confident that the two new routes will stimulate tourism for both countries. Thai AirAsia presently flies direct from Thailand to four fascinating Indian cities of Chennai, Bangalore, Kolkata and Kochi, maintaining a Load Factor average of 80 percent with 80-85 percent of passengers coming from India, indicating determined strength of the market where travellers have consistently showed excellent feedback toward AirAsia.

Jet Airways has appointed Discover the World to provide sales and marketing in Switzerland. Jenny Adams, CEO, Discover the World, says, ““Discover is delighted to partner with Jet Airways for the first time. Our team in Switzerland, headed by Director Richard Gugerli, will expand the airline’s visibility, helping to increase its revenues especially through its code share partnership with Air France/KLM.” From 2017 end, Jet Airways will fly to India 54 times a week from London Heathrow, Paris CDG, and Amsterdam to Mumbai, Delhi, Bengaluru, and Chennai. This includes new services from Amsterdam to Bengaluru and Paris CDG to Chennai which will commence on October 29, 2017. Jet Airways also flies daily from Amsterdam to Toronto.