Connecting with the global market
We have already reached out to some of the corporates to gauge their readiness to travel, says Jyothi Varma, the new VP for the India market at DigiTravel Consulting.
To support a resurgent business travel industry, DigiTravel Consulting (DTC) has announced an expanded global presence by adding consultants in India / Asia, US and Canada. Jyothi Varma has been named as the Vice President for the India market. Sharing her first reaction on her appointment, Varma says, “I have almost three decades of experience in the travel and hospitality industry. I believe my connections and experience in the industry will help expand our reach in my new role as Vice President for the India market. For me personally, the new role helps in connecting with the global market and will add value addition to my knowledge curve while learning something new and also enrich networking with international players.”
US-based DigiTravel Consulting provides nextgeneration consulting services to the business travel industry powering the omnichannel experience. Sharing her immediate plans and goals with the new responsibility, Varma says that they have already reached out to some of the corporates to gauge their readiness to travel and handle the new norms of travelling. “Travel is never going to be the same now. The way things are, we want to understand if corporates are ready to travel or not. How are they going to plan their travel keeping in mind safety, hygiene, sanitisation. The goal is to identify what is the status of corporates resuming travel and what is the update in the market. We have slowly reached out to few clients and we have told them what all we are doing. The work is already in progress,” she says.
Talking about the future of business travel in India in the new normal era, Varma says that a lot of things will change in the way corporates and business travel is managed in India. “Till now, it was the price war which was the defining factor in the market. But going further, it will not be the only deciding factor, the value of the product will be much more important. The value of the product is how much emphasis is given to hygiene, what are the things being done to take care of the clients, how resources for a company, which are the most valuable assets for a firm do not face any issue during their travel. So there will be a lot of emphasis on vaccination, wellness, health and the kind of food being served during the trip. There is going to be a huge difference in the way corporates & business travellers will travel. For corporates, if you are giving them services according to their needs, they won't mind paying extra,” she explains.
Predicting the timeline for the full recovery of the M!CE industry in India, Varma says that she personally is looking forward to consistent movement starting from the first quarter of the next financial year. “I wouldn't be able to predict how and when. We have just peaked the second wave and we are looking at the third wave of COVID infections. Although, we have become smarter since the first wave, we have learnt a lot of things and realised the same things will not work in the second wave. So, if you ask me when the business travel is going to resume, there is no clear deadline,” she concludes.
There will be emphasis on vaccination, wellness, health & the kind of food being served