Tag Archives: Founder

MakeMyTrip and InterGlobe Technology Quotient, the official distributor of Travelport in India have forged a strategic alliance that will allow the OTA access into Travelport’s Travel Commerce Platform. Under the agreement, MakeMyTrip can expand the use of Travelport’s technology from the Ibibo Group to their other primary distribution channels starting in the second half of calendar year 2017. Gordon Wilson, Travelport’s President and CEO, commented, “India is a market with enormous growth potential where Travelport, working with our distributor ITQ, has grown in air booking terms by 14 per cent in the first half of 2017 when the GDS air market has grown by 11 per cent. Securing a partnership with the leading online travel agency in the market, with a high growth profile and tremendous track record, gives even further impetus to our plans in the country.” Deep Kalra, Founder, Chairman and Group CEO, MakeMyTrip, added, “This is an exciting time for MakeMyTrip and we are delighted to partner with Travelport and ITQ as part of our growth strategy in the service of the travelling Indian consumer.” Travelport currently boasts a portfolio of approximately 400 airlines, including the merchandised content of over half of these carriers such as fares families and ancillary products (paid seat assignments, baggage fees, priority boarding, etc). MakeMyTrip, along with its other entities Goibibo and redBus receives over 33 million visits via its desktop and mobile-web platforms and serves over 40 million mobile app active users each month.

Seychelles Tourist Office, India recently conducted a seminar for local hoteliers, DMCs, tourism board head office and other establishments in Seychelles. The seminar is aimed at defining the Indian market and presenting its nitty-gritties to the local travel trade fraternity of Seychelles. The event witnessed speeches on the cultural and behavioural differences between the two countries by three eminent speakers from India. These included Ashutosh Mehere, COO Alliances, Cox & Kings, India; Jai Bujhwala, Founder, Holidays Box; and Parthip Thyagarajan, Founder, WeddingSutra.com. Sherin Francis, CEO, Seychelles Tourism Board, was also present at the event. She said, “The seminar was one of its kind and highly informative for all our private sector partners. It created awareness about the diversity of India and answered many questions about the trade and tourist behaviour. It certainly created a high inquisitiveness about the market among the locals which is a great sign for developing further relations with the Indian market.” Lubaina Sheerazi, COO, Blue Square Consultants, Seychelles Tourist office India, explained the cultural diversity and uniqueness of the Indian market setting stage for the speakers. She says, “We were happy with the reception of the seminar and glad that our agenda of bringing out the differences between any other market and India for Seychelles had been met. The speakers gave some highly thought provoking inputs which will certainly better equip the private sector to cater differently to the Indian audience and allow us to further expand our vision for the destination.”

Travel Agents Association of India- Northern Region has elected Neeraj Malhotra, Co-founder and CEO, Ganpati Travels, as its new Chairman, while Gaurav Dogra, Founder, Plan Your Holiday, is the new Honorary Secretary. Gurdevinder Singh of Bhagwant Travel and Tours has been elected for the position of Treasurer for 2017-19. Malhotra said, “I am thankful to the team of TAAI-NR for their support and faith in me. Going forward, our first agenda is to consolidate the members and also focus on increasing membership during our term. Since our industry is going through tough times with the implementation of GST, we will be conducting various knowledge sessions to address and explain to the members how they can work under this regime. Also in collaboration with various organisations like PHD Chamber of Commerce and CII, we will be holding education seminars for our members to increase the information quotient. We are also looking at offering value additions to our members like education conferences abroad, more familiarisation trips to learn about new destinations and sell them to increase their revenue arm.” TAAI Northern Region also plans to partner with multiple tourism boards to conduct learning sessions for its members.

Travkart, the travel service portal from Holidays by Sahibji, has collaborated with Planet Abled to offer specially designed itineraries for travellers with disabilities. The first travel brand to enter such a collaboration, Travkart will introduce an ‘Accessible Travel’ tab on its website which can be used by the travellers with disabilities to browse and book curated holiday packages. Manheer Singh Sethi, Co-founder, Travkart.com, said, “Awareness about special travel needs is highly inadequate in India and people with disabilities find it difficult to be accepted as a part of the society. We are enthusiastic about syncing our synergies with such a unique organisation as Planet Abled and bring about a big social change in the travel industry. This collaboration will make Travkart the first travel brand to introduce a dedicated section offering accessible and curated travel packages for disabled individuals, and will set a new service benchmark in the Indian travel and tourism industry.” Planet Abled is a first-of-its-kind travel company that provides inclusive and accessible travel solutions and leisure excursions for people with disabilities modified to suit their special needs. Planet Abled works with the concept of “Universal Design”, focusing on giving people with different disabilities and non-disabled, a platform to come together, so as to create an inclusive group for a unique human interaction. The underlying belief being, our Planet is our common inheritance and ‘Everything Is For Everyone’. It organizes scheduled group tours, customized tours, romantic tours and local city day tours where persons with disabilities can travel alone, with groups or with friends and family. Neha Arora, Founder, Planet Abled, commented, “Travelling to new locations always brings a sense of apprehension for people with disabilities as well …

The Q Experiences, a luxury travel company in India, has launched an exclusive 11 day trip for only 200 people to Antarctica. The expedition, which is a part of their Curated Journeys segment, will start from Ushuaia, capital of Tierra del Fuego, Argentina on December 9, 2017. Travellers would be on board ‘The Great Majestic Explorer’, which is a sleek yacht with 132 staterooms and suites. Speaking about the unique expedition, Vasim Shaikh, Founder, Q Experiences, said, “Curated Journeys are constant endeavour at the Q. With the launch of the White Continent, we aspire luxury travel to unsurpassed heights and focus on rare destinations that Indians are yet to explore.” Also, the ship would have on board Michelin-starred chef Atul Kochhar to curate Indian delicacies for guests on board.

Anna Davidyan, Founder, Travel Armenia, a luxury DMC for Armenia, Georgia & Azerbaijan, has appointed Vineet Gopal, Director, Representation World, as its representative for India. Gopal says, “We have been appointed as the India representative for Armenia. It will open new opportunities for Indian travellers travelling to Armenia. Armenia is a scenic country offering great nightlife and experiences. It is very well connected to India through Dubai, just 3 hours away from there. Visa is also not a problem. It will attract good MICE business from India. It is already getting a lot of MICE groups.”